Reference articles on history, science, culture and more
Encyclopedia

Full-forward

Playing position in Australian rules football

Full-forward is a position in Australian rules football and Gaelic football with a key focus on kicking goals.

The Coleman Medal is awarded to the player, often a full-forward, who has kicked the most goals in an Australian Football League season.

In modern Australian rules football and Gaelic football, in which players do not strictly stick to a single position, the full-forward is often referred to as a "Key Forward" and can often switch positions with the centre half-forward for "team balance" reasons.

The frequency of players kicking 100 goals in a season has decreased in recent years. According to modern great Leigh Matthews, due to contact penalties protecting intercepting defenders, modern tactics and an endurance style of play, the power forward or stay at home lead-up role of the 1980s and 1990s that was capable of kicking 100 goals a season is no longer a feature of the game at the elite level. In the AFL Women's with 2 less players on the ground, provides additional space for more traditional full forward to lead into, however the reduced game duration and season lowers the overall number of goals they can kick. In Gaelic Football, goals don’t come too often with an average of 1 goal per game in a single match.

01Notable full-forwards

All Stars full forward Taylor Walker kicks for goal from the 50 metre line during the State of Origin for Bushfire Relief Match.
All Stars full forward Taylor Walker kicks for goal from the 50 metre line during the State of Origin for Bushfire Relief Match.
Lance Franklin, the dominant full-forward of the modern era, attempting a difficult kick for goal from outside the boundary beyond the 50 metre line. With more than 1,000 goals, he is 6th-highest all-time VFL/AFL goal kicker.
Lance Franklin, the dominant full-forward of the modern era, attempting a difficult kick for goal from outside the boundary beyond the 50 metre line. With more than 1,000 goals, he is 6th-highest all-time VFL/AFL goal kicker.

02Field Positions

Cora Staunton, one of the all-time great AFLW full forwards.
Cora Staunton, one of the all-time great AFLW full forwards.
Watch videos about Full-forwardExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Full-forward, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.