It has been suggested that Australian Rules Football is based in part on Marn Grook , an Aboriginal game with some similar rules to Australian Rules Football . Because the indigenous people Wills paid with as a child would have played Marn Grook , Wills would have been influenced by this game when creating the rules for Australian Rules Football . There is no evidence that Wills played Marn Grook , an Aboriginal game alleged to have similar rules to the first football codes with members of a nearby community as a boy ; however , the connection may have had some influence .