The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Kardinia Park in South Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. The club formed in 1859, making it the second-oldest AFL side after Melbourne and one of the oldest football clubs in the world.
The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and first competed in 1987 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football League. The club plays its home games at Optus Stadium and has its headquarters at Lathlain Park. The West Australian Football Commission wholly owns the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Football Club, the AFL's other Western Australian team.
Brian Carlyle Cook is a Scottish-born Australian businessman and former Australian rules football player and coach who is the current chief executive officer (CEO) of the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Cook played for a number of different clubs in several Australian states and territories, including the Box Hill Football Club in the Victorian Football Association (VFA), the Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and the East Perth and Subiaco Football Clubs in the Western Australian National Football League (WANFL), and later captain-coached the Ainslie Football Club in the Australian Capital Territory Football League (ACTFL). After his retirement from coaching, Cook occupied positions with the Australian Sports Commission and the West Australian Football Commission, before being appointed CEO of the West Coast Eagles in 1990. He quit this position in 1998 to take up the same role with Geelong Football Club. At the conclusion of the 2021 AFL season, he took the CEO position at the Carlton Football Club.
Gary James Ayres is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is currently the senior coach for the Montrose Football Club in the Eastern Football Netball League (EFNL). Ayres' playing career is honored by the existence of the Gary Ayres Award, an annual award given to the player judged best-afield by the AFL Coaches Association throughout each AFL finals series.
In Victoria Australian rules football is the most popular sport overall, being the most watched and second most participated code of football. Australian rules football originated in Melbourne in the late 1850s and quickly came to dominate in the sport, which it continues to. Victoria has more than double the number of players of any other state in Australia accounting for approximately 42% of all Australian players in 2023 and continues to grow strongly. In 2023 there were 76 competitions and 1,242 clubs. According to Ausplay there are 227,213 adult of which about one in three are female and 96,068 children playing, similar numbers to soccer. The sport is governed by AFL Victoria based in Melbourne. The national governing body, the AFL Commission is also based in Melbourne.
Rivalries in the Australian Football League exist between many teams, most of which typically draw large crowds and interest regardless of both teams' positions on the ladder. The AFL encourages the building of such rivalries, as a method of increasing publicity for the league, to the point of designating one round each year as "Rivalry Round" when many of these match-ups are held on the one weekend. Whilst some rivalries, such as between teams from adjacent areas, are still strong, the designation of an entire round of fixtures as a Rivalry Round is often criticised due to some arbitrary match-ups, or ignoring stronger and more recent rivalries.
Troy Selwood is a former Australian rules footballer who played 75 games for the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was also captain of the Geelong Football Club's team in the Victorian Football League (VFL) from 2011 to 2013.
Joel Anthony Selwood is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a four-time premiership player, a six-time All-Australian, and a three-time captain of the All-Australian team. Selwood captained Geelong between 2012 and 2022, has won the Carji Greeves Medal three times as their best and fairest player, and holds the record for longest-serving captain in the AFL.
Adrian Hickmott is an Australian rules football coach and former player. He is currently an assistant coach with the Hawthorn Football Club. As a player, he played with the Geelong Football Club and Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League.
The Mansfield Football Netball Club, nicknamed the Eagles, is an Australian rules football and netball club based in Mansfield, Victoria.
Scott Francis Selwood is an Australian rules footballer who currently plays for the Ivanhoe Football Club in the Northern Football Netball League (NFNL). He previously played professionally for the West Coast Eagles and Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
The Geelong Amateur Football & Netball Club, nicknamed the Ammos, is an Australian rules football and netball club situated in the regional city of Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
The Eaglehawk Football Netball Club is an Australian rules football and netball club based in the town of Eaglehawk, Victoria and have competed in every BFL season since the league began in 1880, with the exception of 1904. Eaglehawk teams currently compete in the Bendigo Football Netball League (BFNL).
The Kangaroo Flat Football Netball Club is an Australian rules football and netball club based in the Bendigo suburb of Kangaroo Flat, Victoria.
The Maryborough Football & Netball Club, nicknamed the Magpies, is an Australian rules football and netball club based in the town of Maryborough, Victoria.
The South Bendigo Football Netball Club, nicknamed the Bloods, is an Australian rules football and netball club based in the city of Bendigo, Victoria.
The King's Birthday match is an annual Australian rules football match between the Melbourne Football Club and Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on the King's Birthday public holiday in Victoria.
The West Coast Eagles are an Australian rules football team based in Perth, Western Australia. Their 2011 season was their 25th season in the Australian Football League (AFL), their tenth season under premiership coach John Worsfold, and the fourth season with Darren Glass as captain. In the previous season, West Coast finished last on the ladder to receive their first wooden spoon. West Coast began their 2011 season with a four-point win over North Melbourne on 27 March. At the conclusion of round ten, West Coast had won five of their nine games and lost four, but over the remainder of the season they won 12 of their 13 games to finish fourth at the end of the regular season. In the finals series, the club lost their qualifying final to Collingwood by 20 points. They defeated Carlton in a home semi-final, but lost to Geelong, the eventual premiers in a preliminary final at the MCG the following week.
The Golden Square Football Netball Club, nicknamed the Bulldogs, is an Australian rules football and netball club based in the Bendigo suburb of Golden Square, Victoria.
The 2022 AFL season was the 126th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest-level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured eighteen clubs and ran from 16 March until 24 September, comprising a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top eight clubs.
