The teams are ranked by the number of points they have earned by playing games against opponents. Four points are awarded to a team for a win, two points are awarded for a draw, and no points are awarded if the team loses. It is important to note that these points are not equivalent to the points that teams score during the match. The margin of victory does not matter when it comes to the number of points awarded; a one-point victory earns a team four points on the AFL ladder, as does an eighty-point blowout (as we saw on the AFL ladder 2010)

This does not mean that margin of victory isn’t important, however. It is common for teams to be tied in the number of points they have, especially early in the season. It is rare for a season to end without at least some teams tied in points. When this is the case, the tie on the AFL ladder is broken via the percentage. The percentage is calculated by dividing the total number of points a team has scored in all of its games for a season by the number of points the opponents have scored, and multiplying by 100. For example, a team who has scored 160 points but whose opponents scored 200 would have a percentage of 80%. These data can be used as the basis of an AFL ladder predictor for the 2011 season.

At the end of the AFL regular season in 2011, the top eight teams will qualify for the Finals, a series of playoff games that determine the Premiers of the season. A much less dignified “honour” is the Wooden Spoon, a figurative award given to the team with the worst team record for the season – the ones at the bottom of the AFL ladder

The AFL ladder is the most important ranking system in the Australian Football League. A team’s place on that ladder is the difference between celebrating a successful season in progress, or throwing in the towel and starting the preparations for next season – 2012