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 forward line refers to a set of attacking positions on the field.

The forward line consists of three players, a left and right forward pocket

Forward pocket

In Australian rules football, the forward pocket refers to a position on the field deep in offense.Forward pocket players, situated in the forward line, need to have good avoidance and goal sneak skills and usually, quality forward-pockets are noted for their agility and ability to score difficult...

, and a full-forward

Full-forward

Full-forward is a position in Australian rules football and Gaelic football with a key focus on kicking goals.Leading full-forwards of the Australian Football League are usually among those awarded with the Coleman Medal for the most goals in an AFL season....

. Up until approximately 20 years ago, the forward pockets were often the resting rover or ruckman. The advent of unlimited interchanges, as opposed to single player replacements in the mid 70s has changed the roles to specialist positions, rather than temporary placements.

The forward pocket

Forward pocket

In Australian rules football, the forward pocket refers to a position on the field deep in offense.Forward pocket players, situated in the forward line, need to have good avoidance and goal sneak skills and usually, quality forward-pockets are noted for their agility and ability to score difficult...

 player is usually a medium-sized leading

Leading

In typography, leading refers to the distance between the baselines of successive lines of type. The term originated in the days of hand-typesetting, when thin strips of lead were inserted into the formes to increase the vertical distance between lines of type...

 forward, or a small-sized crumbing forward. Examples of a small crumbing forward pocket

Forward pocket

In Australian rules football, the forward pocket refers to a position on the field deep in offense.Forward pocket players, situated in the forward line, need to have good avoidance and goal sneak skills and usually, quality forward-pockets are noted for their agility and ability to score difficult...

 players include Stephen Milne

Stephen Milne

Stephen Milne is a professional footballer for the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League .-AFL career:...

, Nathan Brown, Phillip Matera

Phillip Matera

Phillip "Phil" Matera is a former Australian rules footballer of Italian-Aboriginal heritage.-Career:Beginning his career in 1996, the 171 cm forward pocket was one of the Australian Football League's best small forwards....

 Jeff Farmer

Jeff Farmer (footballer)

Jeff Farmer is a former Australian rules footballer of Aboriginal descent. He was the first indigenous player to kick 400 goals in the Australian Football League .-Melbourne career:...

 and Ashley Sampi

Ashley Sampi

Ashley Sampi is an indigenous Australian rules footballer who played for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League...

. Examples of medium sized leading forwards include Brad Johnson

Brad Johnson (Australian rules footballer)

Brad Johnson is a former Australian rules footballer who was the captain of Australian Football League team Western Bulldogs...

, Mark L. Williams

Mark L. Williams

Mark Williams is a former indigenous Australian rules footballer who played with Hawthorn and Essendon in the Australian Football League...

 and Paul Medhurst

Paul Medhurst

Paul Medhurst is a former professional Australian rules football who played for the Fremantle Football Club and the Collingwood Football Club....

.

A full-forward

Full-forward

Full-forward is a position in Australian rules football and Gaelic football with a key focus on kicking goals.Leading full-forwards of the Australian Football League are usually among those awarded with the Coleman Medal for the most goals in an AFL season....

 is a larger stronger player who uses their strength to take marks and outmuscle their opponents (full-backs), and most importantly, kick goals. Examples of full-forward

Full-forward

Full-forward is a position in Australian rules football and Gaelic football with a key focus on kicking goals.Leading full-forwards of the Australian Football League are usually among those awarded with the Coleman Medal for the most goals in an AFL season....

s include Tony Lockett

Tony Lockett

Anthony Howard "Tony" Lockett is a former Australian rules football player. Lockett is the highest goal scorer in the history of the VFL/AFL with 1,360 goals in a career of 281 games, that commenced in 1983 with the St Kilda Football Club, and finished in 2002 with the Sydney Swans...

, Fraser Gehrig

Fraser Gehrig

Fraser Gehrig is a retired Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League who played for the St Kilda Football Club and the West Coast Eagles...

, Scott Cummings

Scott Cummings

Scott Cummings is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Essendon, Port Adelaide, the West Coast Eagles and Collingwood in the Australian Football League....

, Matthew Lloyd

Matthew Lloyd

Matthew James Lloyd is a former Australian rules footballer who played for and was the captain of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League...

, John Coleman and Brian Taylor.