Fan's Guide to AFL Laws of the Game 2026

A player in possession of the ball must be given an opportunity to dispose of it before an opponent is rewarded for a legal tackle. The umpire pays a free kick for holding the ball when:

• Prior opportunity: the player had prior opportunity and does not correctly dispose of the ball immediately when legally tackled.
• Incorrect disposal: the player had no prior opportunity but elects to dispose of the ball incorrectly when tackled. It is not holding the ball if they genuinely attempt a correct disposal, or the tackle itself knocks the ball loose.
• No genuine attempt: the player had no prior opportunity, is able to dispose of the ball, but does not make a genuine attempt to do so within a reasonable time.
• Diving on the ball: the player dives on top of the ball, or drags it underneath their body, and does not immediately knock it clear or correctly dispose of it.

Source: Laws of Australian Football 2026, Law 18.6.

A player with the ball has had prior opportunity if they:

• are balanced and steady; or
• attempt to evade or fend an opponent; or
• have taken a mark or been awarded a free kick; or
• have driven their head into a stationary or near-stationary opponent.

Once a player has had prior opportunity, they must correctly dispose of the ball (kick or handball it) immediately when legally tackled. If they do not, the umpire pays holding the ball. For 2026 the AFL announced that a shrug in the tackle is treated as prior opportunity, in the same way a fend or attempt to evade already is.

Sources: Laws of Australian Football 2026, definition of Prior Opportunity and Law 18.6.2; AFL.com.au, "Seven rule changes: AFL to crack down on dead time in games in 2026" (https://www.afl.com.au/news/1447460/seven-rules-changes-afl-to-crack-down-on-dead-time-in-games-in-2026).

In the field umpire's opinion, a player takes a mark by catching or taking control of the football:

• within the playing surface (or before it has passed completely over the boundary, goal or behind line);
• after it was kicked by another player a distance of at least 15 metres; and
• without it having touched the ground or been touched by another player.

A mark is also paid if the ball was touched by an umpire or other official before the player caught it. The mark is set where the catch was taken, and the player may then play on or take the kick after the opposition has stood the mark.

Source: Laws of Australian Football 2026, Laws 15.1 to 15.3.

After a mark or free kick has been awarded, the umpire pays a 50-metre penalty in favour of the player if anyone from the opposing team (player or official):

• moves off the mark;
• holds the player after the mark or free kick (unreasonably, if in the immediate contest);
• enters, or does not make every endeavour to leave, the protected area (unless accompanying or following their opponent within 2 metres);
• does not return the ball directly and on the full to the player;
• delays or impedes play; or
• does anything else that would ordinarily earn a free kick.

The umpire advances the mark 50 metres straight towards the centre of the goal line (if the player is already within 50 metres, the mark moves to the centre of the goal line). The clock is stopped while the mark is advanced, and the player may play on at any time. If an opponent impedes or delays the player while the mark is being advanced, a second 50-metre penalty is paid.

Source: Laws of Australian Football 2026, Laws 19.2 and 19.4.

After a mark or free kick, one opposition player may stand on the mark (or be directed where to go by the umpire). Every other opposition player must be behind the mark or outside the protected area, a corridor 10 metres either side of the mark and 5 metres behind it, running to 10 metres either side of the player with the ball.

No one may enter and stay in the protected area unless the umpire calls "play on", or they are accompanying or following within 2 metres of their direct opponent. Anyone caught in it must make every endeavour to get out immediately.

For 2026 the AFL tightened the "stand" instruction: a player told to stand now has to stand and can no longer step back to the "outside five" area. The aim is to speed up play and encourage players to take the game on.

Breaking these requirements (for example moving off the mark or not leaving the protected area) brings a 50-metre penalty.

Sources: Laws of Australian Football 2026, Laws 19.2 and 20.1; AFL.com.au, "Seven rule changes: AFL to crack down on dead time in games in 2026" (https://www.afl.com.au/news/1447460/seven-rules-changes-afl-to-crack-down-on-dead-time-in-games-in-2026).

Each club names 23 players for an AFL match: 18 who start on the field and five interchange players on the bench, plus three emergencies who are not part of the match-day 23.

The interchange cap is 75 interchanges per club per match. There is no limit on how often any one player can be rotated, only on the club's total. Players must enter and leave the ground through the interchange gate or area; a player who does not is penalised with a free kick and a 50-metre penalty to the opposition.

Source: AFL Regulations (11 February 2026), Regulations 12.2 and 12.8 and the definition of Interchange Cap; Laws of Australian Football 2026, Law 7.2.

Counts: an interchange is counted once the replacement player enters the ground, however long they stay on.

Does not count:

• A player who leaves and immediately re-enters without being replaced.
• Interchanges at quarter time, half time and three-quarter time.
• Injury and safety exits: a detailed off-field head injury assessment, the blood rule, the stretcher rule, an extended medical assessment, or a player ordered off under the rules.

Once the cap is reached, only those medical exits can still be replaced. A player leaving for a head injury assessment cannot return for 15 minutes, and one leaving for a stretcher or extended medical assessment cannot return for 20 minutes.

Penalty for exceeding the cap: the opposition is awarded a free kick and a 50-metre penalty, the extra player is ordered off, and the club faces a sanction of up to 20 units for a first offence and up to 40 units for later offences.

Source: AFL Regulations (11 February 2026), Regulation 12.8(c).

No. The substitute was removed for the 2026 season. Clubs now name 23 players on the team sheet: 18 starters and five interchange players, plus three emergencies. Nobody can be brought on as an extra player once the game starts.

Injured players are instead covered by the interchange rules. A player who leaves for a stretcher, an extended medical assessment, a detailed off-field head injury assessment or the blood rule can be replaced without using up the 75-interchange cap, even after the cap has been reached.

Sources: AFL.com.au, "Changes to Laws of the Game and AFL Regulations" (https://www.afl.com.au/news/1435386/league-scraps-sup-rule-and-centre-bounce-in-major-shake-up); AFL Regulations (11 February 2026), Regulations 12.2 and 12.8(c).

Play is stopped and the player is taken off by the shortest route to their team's rooms, unless a doctor says that is unsafe. The team may replace the player with someone from its listed 23, who enters through the interchange area.

The player cannot return for 20 minutes (not counting quarter breaks). After that they may be interchanged back on if they are fit to play. Play then restarts according to what was happening when it stopped (for example a throw-up if the ball was in dispute, or the free kick is taken if one had been paid).

A stretcher replacement does not count towards the interchange cap.

Source: Laws of Australian Football 2026, Law 7.3; AFL Regulations (11 February 2026), Regulation 12.8(c).

The match is a draw. Under the Laws of Australian Football, a match is drawn when both teams have the same number of points at the end of the match, and no extra time is played.

On the ladder, each club in a drawn home and away match receives 2 premiership points (a win is worth 4). Extra time applies only to finals.

Source: Laws of Australian Football 2026, Part A (Nature and Object of Australian Football); AFL Regulations (11 February 2026), Regulation 2.5(b).

A final cannot end in a draw. Under AFL Regulation 2.8, the goal umpires first confirm the scores are identical, then:

1. There is a 6 minute 30 second rest period.
2. Teams play Additional Time: two periods of 3 minutes each, plus time on for stoppages. Teams change ends at the start of the first period and again after it, without delay.
3. At the end of Additional Time the team with the higher score wins.
4. If the scores are still level, Further Additional Time is played the same way (two 3-minute periods plus time on, changing ends), and this repeats until one team is in front at the end of a period.

Interchange cap: each team gets a fresh cap of 10 interchanges for the two periods of each block of Additional Time or Further Additional Time. There are no coaches' or officials' breaks on the ground during Further Additional Time.

Source: AFL Regulations (11 February 2026), Regulations 2.8 and 12.8(c)(v).