Women’s football experiment with zones and 16-a-side matches

WOMEN’S football is at its best with zones and 16 players a side, trials of potential rule changes for the new national league have shown.

The Victorian Women’s Football Academy have played games with modified rules. Picture: David Crosling

WOMEN’S football is at its best with zones and 16 players a side, trials of potential rule changes for the new national league have shown.

And the AFL revealed on Wednesday it would experiment with the controversial last-touch out of bounds free kick in a series of exhibition games from May.

The Victorian Women’s Football Academy has played games with modified rules this year, with GPS data captured for analysis by Deakin University.

Leading women’s football figures Darren Flanigan and Craig Starcevich both said congestion was an issue.

AFL Victoria female football manager Flanigan said rules including 16-a-side and anti-congestion zones had helped alleviate crowding around the ball.

The “density rule” is essentially zones where at stoppages there must be:

TWO forwards and two defenders inside both 50m arcs, plus

AN EXTRA three forwards and three defenders in the forward/back halves.

“We played some 16-a-side games this year with our women’s academy with various combinations,” Flanigan said.

“No forward pocket, no back pocket in the first game, we had no wings in the second game, we had no wings and the high-density rules in the third game and we had GPS units on all the midfielders and a couple of forwards and backs in those. Deakin Uni has all that data.

“Hopefully they can sift through it and find out which one was a faster, more open game.

“Certainly as an observer, the third one was the best: 16 a side and high density (zones) was the most open, free flowing game.

“The feedback from the players was they certainly enjoyed the game more when it was a bit more open.”

Footballers from the women’s academy train at Princes Park last year. Picture: David Crosling

AFL Queensland women’s football boss Starcevich said one of those rules, or a combination, could work.

“Not a whole lot (needs to change) however there probably is a slight concern around how many stoppages at the moment,” said Starcevich, who has coached Western Bulldogs in exhibition games.

“Probably not unlike the under-18 boys nationally, (we’re) trying to work out a way to reduce congestion.”

AFL general manager game and market development Simon Lethlean said a PhD student from Deakin University was working closely with the AFL Game Analysis unit “to assess vision and team data from the six exhibition matches played so far”.

“At this stage we would like to trial the ‘last touch’ rule currently being used in the SANFL competition in the next round of exhibition matches this year to determine what impact it has on ball movement,” he said.

“Given we have only just begun our match analysis, it is too early to tell whether there will be any proposed rule changes for the national league next year but it is something that we are open to if it makes the game better for all involved ...”

Other ideas understood to have been discussed include bringing in the wings at the MCG.

“You watch Etihad Games and they flow up and back and they look fantastic,” Starcevich said.

“We’ve only had two games at the MCG, both have been a little bogged down, but that might not be a great sample size to look at, either.

“It just seems a little bit slower, the ball gets stuck out wide a little bit and maybe it doesn’t flow as much.”

GAME CHANGERS

Women’s ball: width circumference 3cm shorter, length circ. 4cm shorter

25m penalty, not 50m

Trialled

* 16 players a side

* Anti-congestion zones

To be tested

* SANFL “last touch” out-of-bounds free kick

Upcoming games

Queensland v Melbourne., MCG, May 22

Western Bulldogs v WA, Etihad Stadium, June 2

Originally published as Women’s football experiment with zones and 16-a-side matches