Marks

When the ball is caught from a kick of at least 15 metres in length. A mark allows the player who caught the ball a free disposal without any threat from being tackled, unless he plays on by 'running off the mark' where the catch (mark) took place.

A player who took the mark is typically given around 5-7 seconds to take this advantage of a free disposal, before the umpire calls 'play-on' and the player is at liberty to be tackled.

However, when a player takes a mark within scoring distance of goal, he is given 30 seconds to take his shot before play on is called.

The marking rule remains one of the fundamental quirks of the AFL and a big point of differentiation from other football codes.

Example: “Jeremy Howe flew high above the pack to take a spectacular mark.”

Marking stats are revealing as they denote how much control a team has of the game. A team with high marking numbers either have tall, expert markers in their team, or more often play a style whereby the ball is moved between players by short kicks and subsequent marks.

Benchmark: 5 or more Marks in a game is considered a good contribution by a player.