Footy 9s is an exciting and dynamic team sport, that has huge potential to grow in the United States. Although inspired by Australian Football it is a completely new sport.
As Footy 9s is played on smaller fields, the behind posts have been removed. Whilst the high scoring nature of Australian Football is one of its enduring appeals, having too much scoring in Footy 9s would hamper its appeal. We want to have more scoring than the other football codes, but not so much that the achievement of scoring becomes devalued.
| AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL | FOOTY 9s |
|---|---|
| Large cricket sized field | Played on American football fields |
| Oval field | Rectangular field |
| Markings include centre square, 50m arc etc. | Uses existing field markings |
| 18 players per side | 9 players per side |
| 6 umpires | 3 umpires |
| 4 large posts, including 2 behind posts | Uses existing goals, no behind posts |
| Ball is moved around the field by kick or handball | Ball is moved around the field by kick, handball or forward pass |
| Goal is scored by kicking ball between 2 central posts | Goal is scored by kicking through American Football posts |
| Ball touched before going through central posts is not a goal | Ball touched before going through posts is still a goal |
| Ball hits post and comes back into play, is a score | Ball hits post and comes back into play, is play on |
| Game starts with two ruckmen running into each other | Game starts with a basketball style jump ball |
| Game starts with umpire bouncing the ball | Game starts with umpire throwing the ball up |
| When ball goes out of bounds, ball thrown back into play by boundary umpire | When ball goes out of bounds, the ball is kicked back into play by nearest opponent |
| Kicking the ball off the ground allowed | Kicking the ball off the ground not allowed |
| Mark awarded after 15 metres | Mark awarded after 10 yards |
| Ball must be bounced after 15 metres | Ball must be bounced after 10 yards |
| 50 metre penalties for major infringements | 15 yard penalties for major infringements |