In Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

, the term backline refers to a position on the field. The backline consists of 3 defenders, one in the left back pocket, one in the right back pocket, and one at full-back.

Examples of back-pocket players include Kevin Sheedy and Tom Hafey

Tom Hafey

Thomas Stanley Raymond Hafey is a former Australian rules football Victorian Football League player and coach. Hafey played for Richmond between 1953 and 1958, and coached four clubs—Richmond, Collingwood, Geelong and Sydney—between 1966 and 1988, leading teams to a total of four premierships...

Full-backs are usually the biggest of the 3 defenders in the backline, and they must have skills in spoiling the ball, body strength to out-muscle opposition forwards that they are playing on, and awareness and balance to keep up with leading forwards. Examples of full-backs include Matthew Scarlett

Matthew Scarlett

Matthew Scarlett is an Australian rules footballer for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League . A fullback, tall and weighing , Scarlett is the eldest son of former Geelong footballer John Scarlett....

, Shane Wakelin

Shane Wakelin

Shane Wakelin is a former Australian rules footballer for St Kilda and Collingwood in the Australian Football League.-AFL career:...

, Ben Rutten

Ben Rutten

Benjamin "Truck" Rutten is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League . He is known for his size, strength and ability to contain some of the game's best forwards....

, James Clement

James Clement

James Clement is a former professional Australian rules footballer for Collingwood and Fremantle in the Australian Football League...

, Bret Thornton

Bret Thornton

Bret Thornton is an Australian rules footballer for Carlton in the Australian Football League .-Early life and junior career:Thornton grew up in the Melbourne suburb of Mount Waverley and attended Mount Waverley Secondary College....

, Danny Frawley

Danny Frawley

Danny Frawley is a former Australian rules footballer and coach and a current football commentator with Fox Sports.He is the nephew of Collingwood player Des Tuddenham and the uncle of current Melbourne Football Club player James Frawley.- Football career :Recruited from Ballarat, after attending...

 and Luke Penny

Luke Penny

Luke Penny is a former Australian rules footballer.Recruited to the Western Bulldogs in the 1998 AFL Draft as pick 14, Penny was seen as a project player who could lead the defence in years to come. He stood at 193 cm, and made his debut in 2000...

.