->'''Joined AFLW''': 2017
->'''Colours''': Orange, charcoal and white
The first few years of the Giants' history can be summed up with the same word familiar to any typical expansion club: futility. Debuting in 2012, the Giants would debut with two consecutive wooden spoons, including a one-win 2013, and had an absolute nightmare of an uphill battle trying to grow beyond being the league's whipping boy; on top of the constant loss, every game was essentially an away game as the team struggled to find fans of any kind. Even 2014, the improvement season that saw them finally notch their first win against Sydney, would only see them finish two whole spots above the bottom of the ladder, while 2015 had them finish at 11th. For a moment, it seemed like GWS would be a perennial underachiever, less an expansion club and more a cautionary tale/comedy fodder.
Enter the 2016 season. The Giants, who had slowly been moving up the ladder in previous seasons, went on to win a top 4 finish with a 16-6 record, including a 75-point win over reigning premiers Hawthorn, and culminated in the Giants eliminating the minor premiers, their cross-town rival Swans, in the finals. Since then, the club went on a four-year streak of finals appearances, including a Grand Final in 2019, before return appearances in 2021 and 2023 (a year which had them sit at 15th halfway through the season, only to suddenly rattle of a series of big wins and finish at 7th before losing in a preliminary final to eventual premiers Collingwood, a run which gave the team the nickname "the Orange Tsunami"). Their consistent level of play, recent non-Victorian roots, their usage of social media, and their club theme has seen them garner a reputation of being "everyone's second favourite team" (Well, apart from Swans and Bulldogs supporters, see below).
GWS' first rival was [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Derby_(AFL) Sydney]], though for a long time this was a rivalry in name only. In their first 9 encounters, the Swans won 8 of them, during the Giants' hapless growing period. Since 2016, this rivalry has become genuinely competitive, now that they've found success and fans - while the Swans still maintain the lead in their head-to-head record, the Giants have rather consistently prematurely ended Sydney's finals runs, winning 3 out of 3. As passionate as the derby can be, however, it absolutely pales in comparison to their rivalry with the Western Bulldogs: blossoming at a time when both teams were solid finals contenders, and truly starting in the year the Doggies won their second premiership, matches between them have a tendency to have a fight or two break out between players. Their rivalry, in a few short years, has become considered to be one of the fiercest in the league; the teams and their fans ''really'' don't like each other.
Also famous for their [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27XRugei364 club theme]], which even fans of other clubs admit is an absolute banger.
* '''Hawthorn Hawks''' (VIC)
** A.K.A: Hawkers, Mayblooms (archaic), Mustard Pots (archaic), Shit and Piss (derogatory, from their colors of brown and gold)
** Joined League: 1925
** Joined AFLW: 2022 (August)
** Colours: Brown and gold
** Premierships (men): 1961, 1971, 1976, 1978, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 2008, 2013, 2014, 2015
** Supporter stereotype: Upper-middle class Liberal-Party-voting types. Run by a former Liberal state premier.
*** As well as Tasmanians. Well, they do play a few home games there... plans are to hopefully have the team become fully Tasmanian.
*** The dominant team of the last 50 years: Hawthorn have won 12 of the Premierships in this era. (The next highest tally is Carlton, with 8 in the same period.)
*** Jeff Kennett, the former State Premier who is President of the club, was a divisive figure as Premier and remains one today. Oddly, this has had the effect of making non-Liberal-voting Hawks fans more philosophical about defeat: sure, Hawthorn lost, but at least that means Kennett's unhappy.
* '''Melbourne Demons''' (VIC) - Prides itself as being the oldest extant professional sporting club in the world, having existed since 1858.
** A.K.A: Dees, Fuchsias (archaic - allegedly, the club nickname was changed due to opposition fans calling them the "Pansies")
** Joined League: 1897
** Joined AFLW: 2017
** Colours: Red and navy blue
** Premierships:
*** Men: 1900, 1926, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1948, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1964, 2021
*** Women: 2022 (Season 7)[[note]]Two AFLW seasons were played in 2022, the first ending in April and the second ending in November[[/note]]
** Supporter stereotype: Old money types who own Range Rovers despite never going out of the city, except to go skiing, which is what they do instead of attending games.
* '''North Melbourne Kangaroos''' (VIC)
** A.K.A: North, Kangas, 'roos, Shinboners (archaic, but still occasionally used, usually in references to "Shinboner spirit")
** Joined League: 1925
** Joined AFLW: 2019 (as "North Melbourne/Tasmania")
** Colours: Royal blue and white
** Premierships: 1975, 1977, 1996, 1999
** Supporter stereotype: What supporters?
*** More accurately: Tough-as-nails, but not necessarily bright, football tragics.
*** Finding an Australian that is sympathetic to the club's plight is difficult because they'll either support another team, fanatically, or dislike the sport as a whole.
*** The second team that paid sixty million to become Hobart's team and play four games a year in the struggling Tasmania. Now, to have the Grand Final played at Aurora Stadium...
* '''Port Adelaide Power''' (SA)
** A.K.A: Port
** Joined League: 1997
** Joined AFLW: 2022 (August)
** Colours: Black, white, teal (presumably to make Freo feel better about their ugly shirts)
** Premierships (men): 2004 (36 more in the South Australian National Football League)
** Supporter stereotype: Much the same as Collingwood, except living in Adelaide. The club's state-league branch, which predates the national league by a century or so, is even called the Magpies. And its guernsey design there is usually described as "prison bars". Official TheRival of the Crows, with a minor unofficial rivalry with Geelong.
*** Considered a JokeCharacter or One Trick Pony after their humiliating hundred-point loss to Geelong in the 2007 Grand Final, but after an impressive 2013 and 2014 season, Port Adelaide seem to be improving. In fact, in 2014 they got within 4 points of making the Grand Final.
*** Port Adelaide made a comeback in 2020 and became the minor premiers of that season, while also managing the rare achievement of lasting the whole season on top of the latter. They only failed to make the Grand Final because of the rowdiness of one of their own players.
*** As of the 2022 Grand Final, Port Adelaide is the only team in the AFL that has never "won" a wooden spoon.
* '''Richmond Tigers''' (VIC)
** A.K.A: Bitchmond (pejorative, especially when they accuse the umpires of helping opposition clubs), Tiges, Poormond (pejorative)
** Joined League: 1908
** Joined AFLW: 2020
** Colours: Yellow and black
** Premierships (men): 1920, 1921, 1932, 1934, 1943, 1967, 1969, 1973, 1974, 1980, 2017, 2019, 2020
** Supporter stereotype: [[TheBogan Working class "bogans"]] (for those in the US, think "white trash", for those in the UK think "Chav" or more precisely "Diet Chav-lite"). Also, in the past decade or so, hold very high hopes for the Tigers to go deep into finals, only to have them fall just short of even making finals. Didn't make the finals between 2001 and 2013. Averted in 2017 when they went on to win the premiership, leading to further success in 2019 and 2020.
*** Even non-supporters have to agree that Richmond have the best club song in the league.
* '''St Kilda Saints''' (VIC)
** A.K.A: Sainters
** Joined League: 1897
** Joined AFLW: 2020
** Colours: Black, white and red
** Premierships (men): 1966
** Supporter stereotype: Long-suffering. Kind of like Chicago Cubs supporters in the USA...
*** Once again, potentially explainable by the fact that the Saints are often nailed, bolted and hard welded to the bottom of the ladder. This was particularly true during Essendon's heyday around the year 2000...
*** It goes back further than that. The Saints have only ever won one flag, and hold the records for the longest losing streak and most wooden spoons (last-place finishes) in the league, as well as the second longest ever premiership drought (70 years, just shy of Sydney's 72 years).
*** It gets worse. They have been playing since 1873. '''18'''73. Their first premiership flag was won in ''1966'', by ''one'' point. These poor buggers average worse than ''one premiership a '''century'''.''
*** Their chance at a second flag in 2010, has resulted in two games; the first was a ''draw''. The second was a loss.
*** The rest of Australia (barring, of course, Collingwood supporters) offered their condolences on such a tragic occasion.
* '''Sydney Swans''' (NSW) – formerly South Melbourne
** A.K.A. Swannies, South (archaic), Blood-stained angels (archaic), Bloods (archaic, but still sometimes used)
** Joined League: 1897 as South Melbourne - Relocated to Sydney in 1982
** Joined AFLW: 2022 (August)
** Premierships (men): In South Melbourne: 1909, 1918, 1933. In Sydney: 2005, 2012.
** Colours: Red and white
** Supporter stereotype: See Brisbane. Any non-bandwagon NSW Swans fans are also painfully middle to upper-middle class and the kind of people who applaud good play from the other team, gently chide Collingwood supporters not to swear, and refer to the players as "Mr {{Last Name|Basis}}", although the feral element has been on the rise since the second Sydney premiership. Alternate type: Someone who's been following them for at least three decades and still thinks they're South Melbourne.
*** Possibly one of the least interesting and most ignored teams in the sport. Not that they suck much anymore, but because NSW has UsefulNotes/RugbyLeague which supplies arguably more interesting scandals involving sex, drugs and (too) masculine professional athletes.
*** They have become a challenger for Collingwood's title of the most hated team in the league due to their poaching of other team's players, and their salary cap situation, as until 2017 they received a "Cost of Living Allowance" on top of the regular salary cap.
* '''West Coast Eagles''' (WA)
** A.K.A: Weagles, West Coast Wankers (derogatory), West Coke Eagles (derogatory, see Supporter stereotype)
** Joined League: 1987
** Joined AFLW: 2020
** Colours: Blue and gold
** Premierships (men): 1992, 1994, 2006, 2018
** Supporter stereotype: Similar to Hawthorn, but living in Perth.
*** Rarely receives much media attention unless it was Ben Cousins getting busted for drugs (before getting sacked), someone else getting busted for drugs or a sexual assault charge, which has led to an unfair perception in [[strike: the Eastern States]] Victoria of the club as a mob of testosterone-powered fratboys who 'roid rage when they're not high on recreational drugs. Well, more so than the rest of the league.
*** They were the first club from outside Victoria to win the premiership in 1992.
* '''Western Bulldogs''' (VIC) – formerly Footscray
** A.K.A: Dogs, Doggies, Tricolors (archaic), 'scray, Scraggers (both somewhat archaic)
** Joined League: 1925
** Joined AFLW: 2017
** Colours: Red, white and royal blue
** Premierships:
*** Men – 1954 (as Footscray), 2016
*** Women – 2018
** Supporter stereotype: Similar to Richmond, with St Kilda's "long suffering" element added. Also has a similar cliché of supporters in the Asian migrant community, although unlike the Richmond group, these ones seem to understand the game, or at least get worked up enough about losing to torch the odd car when things go worse than what is normal by the club's standards.
*** By "The Saints' long-suffering element", read "won exactly one premiership, longer ago than St Kilda did, and didn't ''play'' in a grand final in fifty-five years between 1961 and 2016".
*** They did get to the preliminary final in 2009, but were knocked out by St Kilda. We take solace in the fact that Collingwood were knocked out in the same week. By Geelong. The fact that St Kilda then lost the grand final doesn't make it any better.
*** The former prime minister, Julia Gillard, is a fervent supporter. Make of that what you will.
*** Many tears of happiness were shed in 2016, as Australia cheered them on for their second flag.
* One other club, '''University''', was part of the VFL from 1908 to 1915. Several clubs went into temporary remission during World War I, but University was the only one that never returned to the league. Sides representing Melbourne University now participate in the Victorian Amateur Football Association.
* 'Joined the league' dates are of the club's participation in the AFL, and not the VFL established dates that many clubs were technically formed.
The introduction of the GWS Giants and the Gold Coast Suns is part of an effort on the part of the AFL to increase their profile in the states of New South Wales and Queensland, which primarily follow rugby league as their football code. For a while, the Gold Coast team was going to be a relocated North Melbourne, but this fell through when they decided they didn't fancy moving after all (this came after years where the club had renamed itself simply the "Kangaroos Football Club" and were living in a limbo between representing North Melbourne, the Gold Coast, Canberra and [[BlatantLies Mars]]). After that particular debacle, the two new clubs were founded from scratch.
Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory don't have full-time representation in professional football, despite the game being extremely popular in the former two.[[note]]As for the ACT, the most popular sport has traditionally been rugby ''union'' rather than league.[[/note]] Tasmania has launched a campaign to get a team of their own in the AFL too, after decades of seeing all their best players have to move interstate to play at the top level. Even though Tasmania has produced some genuine AFL talent, the AFL doesn't take 'calls' for a Tasmanian team seriously. While no teams (yet) call Tasmania or the territories home, both the AFL and AFL Women's play regular-season games in each area.
On the men's side, Hawthorn plays about a third of its home schedule in Launceston (Tasmania) while North Melbourne hosts a couple of games in Hobart. After the 2022 season, the Tasmanian government reached an agreement in-principle with the league for a team, but it's still contingent on securing federal government funds for a new stadium in Hobart, and getting approval from 12 of the 18 current teams. Tasmania's hope is to secure an expansion team, but since that would give the league an uneven-numbered 19th team, the questions of whether to further expand to 20 or to restructure the league would be on the table. The possibility of struggling North Melbourne permanently relocating to Tasmania is also in the mix.
Melbourne has worked out an agreement with the government of the Northern Territory and plays a game each at Darwin and Alice Springs every year, and GWS has a second home in Canberra (Australian Capital Territory). As for AFL Women's, Adelaide has a formal relationship with the NT government, and North Melbourne has a similar relationship with Tasmania. Accordingly, Adelaide plays one or two games per season in Darwin, and North Melbourne takes some home games to both Hobart and Launceston. The GWS women also use Canberra as a second home.
!In the media:
* ''Theatre/TheClub'' - Play and movie
* ''The Great Macarthy'' - movie
* ''Film/AustralianRules'' - movie
* ''Specky Magee'' - book series
* ''AndTheBigMenFly'' - TV series
* A commercial for Commonwealth Bank mixed this with making fun of Americans by showing an American marketing company confusing this with American football.
--->'''American Marketing Guy''': We have sponsored a football game between the Americans and the Australians.\\
'''Aussie Bank Guy''': Wait. Aussie Rules Football?\\
'''American''' (offended): Oh. Well, maybe we think ''we'' rule football.
* ''Tigers and Devils'', an incredibly well-written QueerRomance by Sean Kennedy centring around a Rules footy player and his boyfriend-cum-long term partner as they struggle with publicity and coming out.
* ''Series/RoundTheTwist'' had an episode where Pete temporarily became a local footy star, and it being set in Victoria the type of footy was...
* In ''ComicStrip/FootrotFlats: The Dog's [[strike:Tail]] Tale'', Rangi takes a speccie over Wal. Wal is less than impressed, especially since he had intended to play UsefulNotes/RugbyUnion.
* The local Aussie Rules team is an important element in the TV series ''Series/SomethingInTheAir'', with the local priest being one of the best players.
* One episode of ''Series/MissFishersMurderMysteries'' (which is basically a love letter to Melbourne by way of lots of people dropping dead there in the 1920s) features rivalries between two VFL teams as a possible motive for murder. One of the teams is Western; the other, Abbotsford, is based in a real suburb but seems to have been made up. Incidentally, Miss Fisher herself, though very posh, is a "lapsed" Collingwood fan (she grew up poor in Collingwood and only came into money when her father unexpectedly inherited a British barony).
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