1) The document compares attacking 50m entries between elite and sub-elite Australian rules football (AFL) by analyzing video footage of games. 2) It finds that elite teams had more entries into the attacking 50m area than sub-elite teams, but found no statistical differences between the two levels across other variables like outcomes, effectiveness, how the ball entered, and area entered. 3) While there were no overall statistical differences, the results show that elite teams were able to generate more forward entries, allowing them to score more points, and had more effective and ineffective disposals into the attacking 50m area compared to sub-elite teams.

1. CRICOS #00212KCRICOS #00212K
Comparing elite and sub-elite AFL attacking 50m entrances
Daniel Scroope (U3038907)
National Institute of Sport Studies, Faculty of Health, University of Canberra and AFL NSW/ACT Talent Department
u3038907@uni.canberra.edu.au
Background
Australian rules football (AFL) is a sport the relies on the
basic principle of out scoring the opposing team to
win(1,2,4). Therefore, scoring more points than the
opposing team is the most crucial factor within the game.
To score points teams must get the ball into an attacking
position. In AFL the best attacking positions are found in
each teams forward 50m arc. Previous literature shows
that the closer the ball gets to the goals the higher
chance there is of scoring a goal (6point) (4). Previous
literature has also shown that there is a gap between
sub-elite and elite footballers skills and physical and
mental capabilities(3).
Is there a difference between
sub-elite and elite attacking
50m entrances?
The aim of the study is to identify if there is a difference
between sub-elite and elite attacking 50m entrances.
Further objectives are to determine if there is a
difference between the amount of entries into the
attacking 50m arc between elite and sub-elite teams.
To determine the relationship between elite and sub-
elite’s, area the ball enter, effectiveness of the ball
entering, how the ball enters and the outcome that
follows. .
Methods DiscussionResults
Video Footage of 5 games (6teams) from the 2013 AFL
u18's national championships were compared to 5
games (4teams) from the 2012 AFL finals campaign
using lapsed-time coding by a single analyst.
The variables coded were.
• The Team who's attacking 50m arc the ball enters
• The Outcome (goal, behind or no result)
• >How the ball enters the attacking 50m arc (kick,
run, handball, hit out and 50m penalty)
• The area the ball enters the attacking 50m (Figure 1)
• The player that first touches the ball (attacker,
defender or midfielder)
• The effectiveness of the ball entering the attacking
50m (Effective, marked by own player, free kick for
or retain possession in more than 3m of space.
Neutral, Retaining possession with less than 3m of
space, boundary throw in or ball brought to ground
after contest. Not effective, turnover, free kick
against or opposition gain possession).
Chi-squared (χ2)tests were used to establish a
relationship between all variables. An intra- coder
reliability analysis (using Kappa statistics) was
performed to determine consistency among coding's.
The intra-coder reliability found the Kappa = 1.0
showing a very strong statistical significance. A
significance level of p<0.05 was used for all analyses.
(1)
Figure 1. AFL attacking 50m areas
It was observed that elite footballers were able to enter
the attacking 50m arc (505) more times than Sub-Elite
footballers (385) (Figure 2) .
There was no statistical significance (χ2(2, N = 890) =
1.144, p = .564) observed between sub-elite and elite
footballers when comparing the outcomes. (Figure 3)
There was no statistical significance (χ2(3, N = 890)
=1.465, p = .690) observed between sub-elite and elite
footballers when comparing the effectiveness of the
entrance. (Figure 3)
There was no statistical significance (χ2(4, N = 890)
=2.948, p = .567) observed between sub-elite and elite
footballers when comparing how the ball entered the
attacking 50m areas. (Figure 3)
There was no statistical significance (χ2(3, N = 890)
=4.454, p = .216) observed between sub-elite and elite
footballers when comparing the area that the ball
enters the attacking 50m arc. (Figure 3)
The results of this project show that as a whole, there
isn’t any statistical difference between Elite and Sub-
Elite entrances into the attacking 50m arc. This being
the case that doesn’t mean there isn’t any differences
between the two levels of football. The elite footballers
were still able to conjure more forward entrances
which allows them to score more points as shown in
the results. The results also presented with the elite
footballers having more effective disposals into the
attacking 50m but also more ineffective disposals. This
can be accounted for due to the better defence but
also better attacking players and players delivering the
ball. Interestingly the results show that the elite and
sub-elite footballers are very similar in the areas which
they kick to. But the elite footballers seem to favour
section four. Weather this can be attributed to the fact
that the Sydney Swans and Hawthorn Hawks were the
main two teams which were analysed is unknown. But
these two teams do have forwards which use their left
foot as preferred therefore leading into area four would
be their preferred area. Both sub-elite and elite levels
used kicking as their usual way in which they would
dispose of the ball into the attacking 50m.
Research Question
Due to the difference in skill level , physical capabilities
and mental composure I hypothesise that the elite AFL
players will be able to get the ball into the attacking 50m
areas more often, and more often effectively, therefore
scoring more points.
1. Brace, N. SPSS for psychologists: a guide to data analysis using SPSS for Windows (2nd ed.).2003
2. Clarke. S. When to Rush a ‘behind’ in Australian Rules Football: a dynamic programming approach. 1998
3. Davis, D + L. Getting into Australian Rules Football. 2006
4. O’Shaughnessy, D. Possession Versus Position: Strategic Evaluation. 2006
References
Conclusion
It has been observed that there isn’t any statistical
difference between sub-elite and elite 50m entrances
in AFL. This is contrary to the hypothesis in which it was
thought that there would be a difference due to
physical, mental and skill level differences between the
two groups.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to the talent department of NSW/ACT AFL
for providing me with the footage to analyse.
Sub-
Elite
385
Elite
505
Elite
Sub-
Elite
Elite
Sub-
Elite
Elite
Sub-
Elite
Elite
Sub-
Elite
Area 4 171 106
Area 3 118 92
Area 2 156 127
Area 1 61 59
Hitout 7 3
Handball 25 13
Run 41 34
Kick 432 334
Effective 146 109
Neutural 298 230
Not Effective 62 44
No Result 273 195
Behind 109 86
Goal 124 103
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Percentage
Figure 3. Sub-Elite v Elite 50m entrance factors
Figure 2. Number of
entries Elite v Sub-
Elite