SANFL will not be volunteering to test AFL rule changes
AS the AFL looks for trial points for its proposed rule changes, the SANFL is adamant its state league will not be volunteering itself for any experiments.
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SANFL leaders will not be offering their State league as a trial horse for the AFL’s impending rule changes.
“We have not - and we will not - approach the AFL offering to trial any of their rules,” SANFL chief executive Jake Parkinson told The Advertiser on Thursday.
“Like the AFL, we want the SANFL to be a compelling competition - not a trial ground.
“Running a trial runs the risk of being detrimental to the SANFL, so it is not happening.”
Critically, the AFL working paper for six “adjustments” next season puts the national competition at a fundamental block with the SANFL on one rule change - last possession leading to a free kick rather than a boundary throw-in.
The AFL competitions committee - that met in Melbourne on Wednesday to ratify the six proposed changes that need to be endorsed by the AFL Commission by October if they are to apply next season - has rejected the SANFL’s last-possession rule.
The SANFL stands by the rule it introduced in 2016.
“It has met the objective of delivering a high-scoring, low stoppage game,” Parkinson said.
There is the increasing prospect the AFL and SANFL will work to differing rule books next season, leaving the SA-based AFL clubs - Adelaide and Port Adelaide - needing to consider the merit of keeping their reserves teams in the State league if it rules are out of line with the AFL law book.
While the SANFL has been briefed on the review process at AFL House, there is still no clarity on just which rule changes will be endorsed by the AFL Commission.
“When any rule changes are ratified, our approach will be to review them - and seek to understand what drove the AFL to its decisions and whether this applies to the SANFL,” Parkinson said.
“We understand why the AFL has reviewed the game.
“But just as the game is played differently at different levels, it might also need to be governed differently.
“The AFL may go to four umpires next season. Can the SANFL - and other levels of football - do the same? Can they afford to take on four umpires?
“There might need to be adjustments for each tier of Australian football.”
michelangelo.rucci@news.com.au
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