Super Goal

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A Super Goal is an innovation used in the Australian Football League's pre-season competition in the sport of Australian rules football.

The Super Goal was introduced before the 2004 Wizard Cup, and is awarded nine points instead of the regulation six. For a goal to be considered a Super Goal, the grounded foot of the player must be outside the 50-metre arc. If the goal is kicked from a set shot, the mark must be outside the 50 metre arc. If a fifty-metre penalty takes the spot of the mark from outside the fifty-metre line to inside it, nine points will still be awarded for an accurate kick; this is to prevent players from moving the mark and preventing any chance of a nine-point score in a close game.

The Super Goal is also used in EJ Whitten Legends Games between Victoria and the All-Stars, although the distance from which they must be kicked is reduced to 40 metres.

In recent pre-season competitions, a video umpire has been in place to determine if the score was a super goal or not in the event that the field umpire could not make the distinction himself. Amendments are generally made during the game, though a Super Goal awarded to Brisbane Lions midfielder Luke Power in the 2007 NAB Cup semi-final win over the Geelong Football Club was amended after the siren to a regular goal. Though this did not affect the result of the game, it caused confusion amongst betting agencies which had taken bets on the final margin of the game.^[1] Nevertheless, the umpire has not always been used for contentious decisions occasionally resulting in the incorrect score being awarded.

The umpire signal for the 9-Point goal is for the Field umpire to give the 'All Clear' and raise 9 fingers to the goal umpire. The goal umpire then raises both arms into the air and waves 2 red flags.

Another innovation related to the Super Goal is the sponsor NAB paying $1000 to the club a player first joined as a junior for every Super Goal he scores in the NAB Cup. However, the Brisbane Lions rookie Colm Begley, who kicked a Super Goal in the 2007 semi final, joined the Lions as an international rookie, having played Gaelic football through his youth. There is lighthearted debate as to where the $1000 should go.^[2]