What is Australian rules football?
[[Image:Richard bradley high mark new zealand.jpg|thumb|[[New Zealand]]'s Richard Bradley takes a high mark over an [[India]]n opponent in the 2008 International Cup, getting a massive 30 centimeters off the ground]]'''Australian rules football''' is a [[sport]] created in [[Australia]]. It is the [[national sport]] and is the most popular sport in Australia.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20061109123525/http://www.sportbusiness.com/sport/australian-rules-football Site sportbusiness]</ref><ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/44079/Australian-rules-football# Encyclopedia britannica]</ref><ref>[http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:I3Cjf9RWldkJ:www.iht.com/articles/2007/09/28/sports/arules.php+Australian+rules+football+most+popular+sport&hl=it&ct=clnk&cd=29&gl=it Article]{{Dead link|date=January 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>[http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P1-71252231.html Encyclopedia]</ref> The main [[league]] of Australian rules football is the [[Australian Football League]]. ==History== [[Image:Tom wills statue.jpg|thumb|left|Statue at the [[Melbourne Cricket Ground]] of [[Tom Wills]] [[umpire|umpiring]] the first Australian Rules Football game in 1858]] In 1858, [[Tom Wills]], a former student of the Rugby school and Cambridge College, created a set of football rules that were like a cross between [[Rugby football|rugby]], [[Football (soccer)|soccer]] and [[Gaelic football]]. He made up the game for [[cricket]]ers to keep in shape during the off-season (winter). Wills had help in making up the game from other people like his cousin H.C.A. Harrison, and W.J. Hammersly and J.B. Thompson.<ref name = WillsADB>{{cite book | chapter-url = http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A060443b.htm | title = Wills, Thomas Wentworth Spencer (1835 - 1880) | author = W. F. Mandle | chapter = Wills, Thomas Wentworth (1835–1880) | year = 1976 | publisher = Australian National University|work = Australian Dictionary of Biography| access-date = 2008-11-25}}</ref> Wills grew up with [[Ind