Article ID: | iaor19992431 |
Country: | United Kingdom |
Volume: | 49 |
Issue: | 5 |
Start Page Number: | 530 |
End Page Number: | 536 |
Publication Date: | May 1998 |
Journal: | Journal of the Operational Research Society |
Authors: | Norman J.M., Clarke S.R. |
Keywords: | programming: dynamic |
In Australian rules football, points are scored when the ball passes over the goal line. Six points are awarded for a goal when the ball passes between the two centre posts, and one point for a ‘behind’, when the ball passes between a centre post and an adjacent outer post. After a behind, the defending team has a free kick from the goal line. It may be worthwhile, particularly in the closing stages of a game, for a defending team voluntarily to concede a behind, by themselves passing the ball between the two outer posts, either to avert the possibility of an imminent goal or to increase the probability of scoring a goal themselves. A dynamic programming model is used to analyse this situation.