Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

, the centre half-forward is a position on the half-forward line of a football field. The directly opposing player is a

centre half-back In the sport of Australian rules football, the half-back line refers to the positions of the 3 players on the field that occupy the centre half-back and left and right half-back flank positions. Centre half-back The role of the centre half-bac ...

. Royce Hart of the

Richmond Football Club The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers or colloquially the Tiges, is a professional Australian rules football team competing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Founded in 1885 in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond, Victoria, Ric ...

and

Wayne Carey Wayne Francis Carey (born 27 May 1971) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the North Melbourne Football Club and Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A dual-premiership captain at North Melbourne ...

of the

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne Local government ar ...

and

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

football clubs are often considered to be two of the greatest centre half-forwards of all time. Royce Hart is the centre half-forward in the AFL team of the century. The centre half-forward's role is usually one of the most miss of any player on the field, with a tall frame, strength, and—most importantly, athleticism—required. Usually, the best backman will be used to cover a quality CHF, unless the opposing full-forward is so good they take priority. Thus, an attacking team with a solid combination of both centre half-forward and full-forward will seriously stretch a defence. If a team in the AFL played without a reliable centre half-forward, then they would often struggle to win games or make an impact on the competition. Great centre half-forwards have the ability to turn games on their head and practically win a match single-handedly for their team. A primary skill needed is good marking ability, with long-range goalkicking also being of great value. Centre half-forwards frequently line up shots on goal from about 50 metres out, often as wide as the boundary. At AFL level especially, kicking goals on the run while running into the 50-metre arc is a significant and requisite skill, as well as being able to pick out markers closer to the goal square. The position is very strenuous, and players who specialise as centre half-forwards often have unnaturally shortened careers—

Dermott Brereton Dermott Hugh Brereton (born 19 August 1964) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club, Sydney Swans and Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Born to Irish immigrant parents, ...

is a good example of a great player whose career was probably shortened by a few years due to sustained injuries that made any kind of meaningful return to form insurmountable. In the modern game, coaches preserve these players, playing them in a variety of relief positions, often in the opposite position at centre half-back; this typically preserves the longevity of their career. A good example is

James Hird James Albert Hird (born 4 February 1973) is a former professional Australian rules football player and past senior coach of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Hird played as a midfielder and half-forward, but he ...

, who often played on the half-back flank towards the end of his career, while others may only play in centre half-forward only when there is a more senior full-forward ahead of them in the depth chart.

References

Australian rules football terminology Gaelic games terminology {{AFL-stub