Mark (Australian football)

A mark is a skill in Australian rules football where a player cleanly catches (is deemed to have controlled the ball for sufficient time) a kicked ball that has travelled more than 15 metres without anyone else touching it or the ball hitting the ground.

It is a distinctive part of the game. Although catching the ball is also found in other codes of football, along with kicking the ball, it is one of the most prevalent skills in Australian football. Marking can also be one of the most spectacular and distinctive aspects of the game, and the best mark of the AFL season is awarded with the Mark of the Year, with similar competitions running across smaller leagues.

The top markers in the Australian Football League, like Jason Dunstall and Jonathan Brown took an average of over 8 marks per game. An AFL match between St Kilda and Port Adelaide in 2006 set a record of 303 marks in a single game.

Upon taking a mark, the umpire will blow the whistle to signify the mark and a player is entitled to an unimpeded kick of the ball, to advance his team towards their goalposts. The nearest opposition player stands on the spot where the player marked the ball, which is also known as the mark, and becomes the man on the mark. When taking the set kick, the player must either play on or kick the ball over the mark.

The criterion for a mark is that it be caught cleanly, i.e. the player have complete control of the ball, for any length of time. As such, if the ball is caught in one grab, and then punched out from between the player's hands, a mark is paid, even if he has held it for only an instant. Similarly, if a ball is controlled, and then dislodged by another player or the ground, the mark will still be paid.

Although the rules make no provision for two players mark the ball simultaneously, by convention the umpire will award the mark to the man in front, i.e. the player who has the front position in the marking contest; if he cannot determine which player is in front, then a ball-up will result.

The mark has been included in the compromise rules used in the International Rules Football series between teams from Australia and Ireland since 1984.

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