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...

, a rushed behind occurs when the ball passes through the goalposts and was last touched by a defending player. It is similar to an own goal

Own goal

An own net occurs in goal-scoring games when a player scores a goal that is registered against his or her own team. It is usually accidental, and may be a result of an attempt at defensive play that failed or was spoiled by opponents....

 in other sports.

A rushed behind typically occurs when a defending player touches a ball as it heads toward the goal. It may be less risky for a defending player to concede a rushed behind rather than try to prevent the goal outright.

According to the rules of scoring, an ordinary rushed behind results in the attacking team scoring a behind (worth one point). For comparison, an ordinary goal is worth six points.

In an attempt to discourage the practice the AFL has recently trialled the awarding of 3 points instead of 1 point for deliberate rushed behinds in pre-season

Australian Football League pre-season competition

The Australian Football League pre-season competition, which is known at present as the NAB Cup, is a competition held before the beginning of the Australian Football League premiership season...

 games.

Two high profile incidents during the 2008 AFL season

2008 AFL season

-Round 1 :-Round 2:-Round 3 :-Round 4:-Round 5:-Round 6 :-Round 7:-AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match:-Round 8:...

 have prompting calls for the rules to be changed to reduce the number of rushed behinds. In Round 16, Richmond's

Richmond Football Club

The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...

 Joel Bowden

Joel Bowden

Joel Bowden was an Australian rules footballer with the Richmond Football Club in the AFL. In 2007, he was declared the new president of the AFL Players Association....

 rushed two behinds in a row to use up time towards the end of their game against Essendon

Essendon Football Club

The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...

, reducing the margin from 6 points to 4 points, but enabling Richmond to win the game. Then the 2008 AFL Grand Final

2008 AFL Grand Final

The 2008 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football match contested between the Geelong Football Club and the Hawthorn Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on the 27th of September 2008...

 saw Hawthorn

Hawthorn Football Club

The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League . The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL. The team play in Brown & Gold vertically striped guernseys...

 rush a record 11 behinds against Geelong

Geelong Football Club

The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed The Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club, named after and based in the city of Geelong, playing in the Australian Football League . The club has been the VFL/AFL premiers nine times, with a record equalling 3 in the AFL era. Geelong has also...

.

In the 2009 pre-season competition, an increased penalty was trialled, awarding a free kick where the behind is rushed, resulting in a likely goal. After the trial period, the rule was implemented for the 2009 AFL season

2009 AFL season

-Round 1 :-Round 2:-Round 3 :-Round 4:-Round 5 :-Round 6:-Round 7:-Round 8:-Round 9 :-Round 10:...

.