Amid all the doom and gloom 2018 served up plenty to savour.

Gary Ablett Jr and his wife Jordan have revealed the birth of their first child on Instagram.

The 2019 AFL season is just around the corner and teams are beginning to ramp up their training loads.

There is a paradox at the heart of Australian sport and, given some of the unfolding power plays, it is likely to persist, unresolved, even if there is a change of ...

Sports fans are fed up with corporate capture. It's time to fight back. It's time to nationalise major Australian sporting leagues.

With 2019 upon us, we dissect what each club needs to do to make next season a successful one.

Learning how to kick a footy and take a mark are skills many Australian kids learn growing up, but for those who've come across the seas, it can be a foreign ...

West Coast defender Brad Sheppard says he leant heavily on Nic Naitanui and Andrew Gaff to deal with the heartbreak of missing out on the club's premiership ...

Star Essendon midfielder Zach Merrett will miss a chunk of AFL preseason training after spraining an ankle.

James Aish says getting a taste of finals football last year has steeled Collingwoods resolve to go one step further in 2019.

AFL player Majak Daw, who fell from a bridge in Melbourne in December, says he is recovering from his injuries and has been blessed with a “second chance at ...

He was on track for a career in the nation's biggest sport. He threw it away to pursue one very few follow. This is why Matt Wearn made the right decision.

Few would have been brave enough to pick this year's grand finalists when the season got under way seven months prior.

Come the weekend, we urge them forth in contest but it takes the near-death of someone such as North Melbourne AFL player Majak Daw to realise there are ...

How about your racing, or netball? Tennis, anyone? As we draw the curtains on 2018, take our quiz below to see how well you were paying attention over the ...

Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority chief David Sharpe has called on a raft of major stakeholders to build barriers to protect codes from organised crime.

New Blue Alex Fasolo is continuing to ramp up his training as he pushes for an early-season debut for Carlton. The 26-year-old former Collingwood forward ...

POLO has long been regarded as the sport of kings — an elite sport few commoners know much about or have access to.

Crows veteran David Mackay hopes Kane Cornes bold prediction for Adelaide in 2019 is on the money.

Melbourne Renegades star Dan Christian has asked Cricket Australia to introduce an Indigenous Round into the Big Bash League next season.

As clubs head into their three-week summer break, we detail who will be digging into their Christmas pudding while wearing a moon boot. Adelaide Captain ...

AFL coaches Alastair Clarkson and Chris Fagan were guests of honour at the MCG on Christmas Eve, chatting with Australian cricket counterpart Justin Langer.

He spent years in New South Wales without the public knowing who he was, now Rory Lobb is ready to embrace his role as one of Fremantle's high-profile new ...

Northowram revived their Division One promotion challenge, after a mauling at the hands of Illingworth the previous week, with a 5-1 win away to Elland Allstars.

Rampage captain Jack Riewoldt hasn't settled on a draft wish list yet but one thing he knows, Richmond goal sneak Jack Higgins is free to test the AFLX free ...

Patrick Dangerfield lost his crown as the No.1 scorer in SuperCoach in 2018 but hes on track to be the most selected player in the game this season.

Collingwood fell agonisingly short in the 2018 Grand Final and that type of defeat can send a club one of two ways. However, looking at the Magpies list and ...

We might be still digesting our Christmas pudding but footy is never too far from our minds with one TAB punter placing 27000 on a team that didnt even make ...

Giants co-captain Callan Ward will share the biggest day of his life with his teammates on Saturday and he is confident such a bond will only aid the clubs push ...

Premier Mark McGowan wants a ban on beer being served to West Coast Eagles fans at this year's inaugural Good Friday AFL fixture in Perth to be overturned.

Not getting drafted into Australia's AFL was the 'greatest disappointment' of Michael Dickson's young life. But if his dream of playing professional Australian ...

A background in mental health gave Helen Milroy the edge to to become the first ever Indigenous member of the AFL commission.

Whether you are punting on a mid-price selection or backing the favourite, its not always easy picking a winner in SuperCoach. To help, The Phantom predicts ...

Alex Bolt has the opportunity to bust through the door, according to former Australian player Sam Groth, with the bleached-haired revelation confident of holding ...

EVEN with six seasons in elite soccer under her belt, for Marijana Rajcic nothing comes close to the team spirit thats building at the Adelaide Crows.

Nick Kyrgios has taken a swipe at Lleyton Hewitt in an Instagram post only a day after denying there was a rift between him and the Australian Davis Cup captain ...

Former AFL player Ted Richards has more than 260 first grade games under his belt but unbeknownst to many he was also kicking goals off the field, tackling a ...

An Indigenous woman will become the AFL's first Indigenous commissioner in 2019. Professor Helen Milroy, a descendent of the Palkyu people of the Pilbara ...

The early history of Melbourne marked Australian Rules football into our soul. But with demographic changes, can the game stay on top?

GEELONG father-son draftee Oscar Brownless has wasted little time making his mark at the Cats, with the 18-year-old one of several recruits to have caught the ...

Josh Kennedy ran riot, Flyin' Liam Ryan soared high and Jack Darling stood tall as the AFL's most potent forward line propelled West Coast to a preliminary final ...

Goal-by-goal report: Alana Schetzer takes you through every goal in a pulsating AFL grand final, as the Eagles grab their fourth crown.

The AFL has scheduled Thursday night matches in each of the five opening rounds in 2019, and eight times overall, in a move certain to please broadcasters.

It's a sport normally associated with Australia but on a crowded sports field on the outskirts of Minneapol...

Just how far-fetched is it to think one day an AFL team could be permanently based in Shanghai?

Collingwood have stormed into the AFL grand final with a stunning 39-point preliminary final win over reigning premiers Richmond at the MCG.

As an AFLW and netball Collingwood player, Ash Brazill is set to double up again this season.

Tigers, Magpies, Eagles or Demons? Justin Robertson runs the rule over the AFL's final four.

Tigers versus Pies 'match will be at capacity', says AFL, as club members snap up 40,000 tickets made available on Monday morning. Pádraig Collins. Mon 17 ...

But a lack of access to and a broader understanding of statistical analysis is a tough problem to solve.

Erin Phillips says broadcast deal is setting AFLW in the right direction.

The driving force behind Rule 30, Peek infused AFL and its communities with his values.

It has become clear that there are several things things afoot in Australian sport that seek to emulate America.

For those hell-bent on changing AFL, Saturday's grand final was a shining example of its health.

The AFL commission will have plenty to think about after the league's competition committee decided to recommend a raft of rule changes and interpretations.

Three of the AFL's 18 clubs still do not employ a psychiatrist or psychologist to support their players dealing with mental health issues according to the AFL ...

The AFL will add a 50m penalty to teams that deliberately flood back to protect a lead.

FOR Collingwood and West Coast Eagles supporters — and general lovers of footy — theres a smorgasbord of quality AFL *content* to watch on TV before ...

Amid heightened concern about footballers' mental heath after the Majak Daw incident, the AFL is looking to make it mandatory for clubs to spend a certain ...

West Coast have produced a last-gasp surge to pip Collingwood by 16 points in a nerve-jangling AFL qualifying final.

Contact sport is hazardous. Participants by implication consent to the inherent risks involved in physically and psychologically charged competition, particularly ...

West Coast finished higher on the AFL ladder than Collingwood but will cede home field advantage in the biggest game of the season. Is that fair, and what, ...

COLLINGWOOD has appointed two-time netball premiership coach Jane Woodlands-Thompson as head of its women's sports program, including its AFL ...

Chasing funding and fans, St Kilda have replaced Gold Coast as Port Adelaide's opponents for the AFL's annual match in Shanghai. The Saints have committed ...

Late last week, the AFL released its long-awaited policy on transgender participation in Australian rules football. In it are a set of requirements trans women need ...

For NRL fans who don't support the Storm or the Roosters, the Grand Final will be like watching Cruella de Vil and her twin sister strolling into a lost dogs' home, ...

Injury-cursed Sydney defender Alex Johnson will make his long-awaited AFL return, almost six years since his last senior game.

Will all the big deals get done before deadline? Follow our live trade blog for all the latest on player movement.

AFLX was inspired by a worthy idea. The AFL wanted to create a game that can be played on rectangular fields in non-traditional football markets to showcase ...

Richmond are on track to crack 100,000 members again in 2019, having reached almost 75,000 members by the first week of December. The Tigers faithful ...

By Daragh Ó Conchúir. Footballers from Carlow, Down, Derry and Cork will be hoping to impress the scouts as they pursue a professional contract at the AFL ...

The AFL says it has listened to fans and will introduce nine rule changes next year to produce more free-flowing football and make the game a better spectacle.

A bruising loss to Richmond confirmed plenty of fears about Hawthorn but ruckman Ben McEvoy insists the Hawks have what it takes to avoid a straight-sets AFL ...

AFL supremo Gillon McLachlan expects some rule tweaks to come into force next season and has taken a veiled swipe at critics.

Goal-by-goal report: The Demons held up under late pressure to beat the Hawks at the MCG and move within one game of the AFL grand final.

Transgender footballer Hannah Mouncey appears to have given up her AFLW dream after deciding not to nominate for the draft.

As the rain made a soft applause over a sea of black and white during the grand final parade, Nathan Buckley looked a different man to the man of sorrows of ...

Essendon's Adam Saad and Richmond's Bachar Houli, both practising Muslims, to join captains for coin toss.

North Melbourne legend Wayne Schwass has criticised the AFL over what he says is a failure to combat mental health issues rife throughout the game.

THE AFL has released the final club membership tallies for the 2018 season, with the league finally cracking the magical seven-figure mark despite the decline ...

TV PERSONALITY Waleed Aly has opened up on meeting with the AFL as part of its investigation into the state of the modern game.

Collingwood set up a blockbuster AFL preliminary final clash with Richmond thanks to a hard-fought 10-point win over GWS at the MCG. The Pies led by just ...

Fremantle's Tom Sheridan and Collingwood premiership player Jarryd Blair are among a raft of players still in limbo at the conclusion of the AFL trade period.

In 1976, the comedian Steve Martin opened a show with the line “I have decided to give the greatest performance of my life! Oh, wait, sorry. That's tomorrow night ...

Today, we have two football seasons - one involves games played on a field and has only one ultimate winner; the other is the traffic of players.

Carlton, Hawthorn, Essendon, Richmond and St Kilda have all been handed 20 year licenses to continue operating pokies at venues around the state.

Since the 2017 inaugural season of the AFL women's league female participation has more than doubled in NSW.

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin has lauded his team's character after they dispelled their doubters with a 29-point AFL elimination final win over Geelong.

WHAT exactly do Americans make of Aussie Rules?

On the biggest island in the Gulf of Carpentaria — between the Northern Territory and northern Queensland — is Alyangula Oval, a footy field that's as Australian ...

When it comes to AFL the Northern Territory punches above its weight — per capita more Territorians participate than anywhere else and it's produced a number ...

The Australian Football League grand final annually attracts a crowd of about 100,000 to the Melbourne Cricket Ground — the largest single-game attendance of ...

The AFL claims its trials of new rules have proven they enhance scoring. A closer examination shows that evidence simply doesn't exist yet to back that up.

The AFL has introduced a Toby Greene rule to stamp out stops up amid a raft of rule changes.

Multiple reports are suggesting that Hawthorn are prepared to trade young star Ryan Burton and pick 15 to Port Adelaide in exchange for Wingard. Ryan Burton.

The AFL, along with most other professional sports around the world, has corrupted play with micro-analysis and over-coaching.

AS far as halftime addresses go, this one has to rank as one of the all-time greats.

The AFL world is mourning the loss of Colin Sylvia after the ex-Melbourne and Fremantle player died in a car crash. The 32-year-old was involved in a ...

He has never played an AFL game but rugby league great Billy Slater believes he has plenty to offer the rival code.

In 2018, AFL football and cheerleading are rarely mentioned in the same sentence. In the 1980s, however, several troupes thrived, most notably the Carlton ...