AFL adds starting positions at all stoppages to list of rule changes it won’t consider

The AFL had already quashed quashed of permanent 16-minute quarters and 16-a-side matches and now it’s poured cold water on another radical rule change that some believe would open up play and ease congestion.

The AFL says there will be no change to the prior opportunity rule. Picture: Michael Klein

The AFL has gone cold turkey on radical rule changes.

After ruling out permanent 16-minute quarters and 16-a-side matches, the league has kiboshed consideration of starting positions at all stoppages.

The AFL introduced six-six-six starting points at centre bounces last year in a season in which scoring slumped to a 52-year low.

The next “nuclear option” to open up play and ease congestion was enforced starting positions at every stoppage.

But a league spokesman said the move, although trialled in 2018, was not being “considered or discussed” for 2021 or beyond.

The AFL is also unlikely to meddle with the prior opportunity rule.

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The AFL says there will be no change to the prior opportunity rule. Picture: Michael Klein

League boss Gillon McLachlan has said previously he favours a weakening of the rule to better reward tacklers, while Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley wants it eliminated completely.

But Geelong coach Chris Scott warned “there would be 500 free kicks a game” without prior opportunity, making congestion much worse.

Asked if the league was considering an adjustment to the rule, an AFL spokesman said: “(It) hasn’t been discussed or considered”.

AFL football operations boss and competition committee chief Steve Hocking said last year he does not want excessive tackling being a “feature of the game”.

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Brownlow medallist Gerard Healy this month called for the length of kicks to be extended for a mark from 15m to 30m, which he believes would result in the demise of the “chip kick”, while the SANFL and the AFLW have introduced a last-touch out-of-bounds rule to speed up games.

Interchange rotations, currently capped at 90, are considered by AFL legend Kevin Bartlett to be the biggest blight on the game, but Hocking has said “there is not enough data” to suggest reducing them further will result in a better product.

Footy great Leigh Matthews last year raised the prospect of a bonus ladder point for teams that kick over 100 points as an incentive for high scoring.

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16-A-SIDE? NO THANKS

A push for 16-a-side teams has been officially binned by the AFL.

Coaching great Leigh Matthews and former St Kilda and Fremantle coach Ross Lyon have called for two fewer players per side in a bid to open up play and ease congestion.

Four-time Hawthorn premiership coach Alastair Clarkson has also urged the AFL to “pull a lever” and trial matches of 16 v 16 to lessen the effectiveness of zone defences.

But an AFL spokesman said league chiefs had no intention of introducing or even exploring the radical proposal.

“The answer is no. It has never been considered or discussed,” the spokesman said.

The clarification comes just days after the league confirmed 16-minute quarters being used in 2020 because of the COVID-19 crisis would be replaced by traditional 20-minute quarters plus time-on next year and beyond.

Teams of 18 were enshrined in a ‘Laws of the Game Charter’ signed off by the league in 2013 but removing two player positions such as the wingers is seen by some influential football figures as a panacea for the game’s chronic low scoring.

The AFL introduced starting positions after goals last year in a season in which scoring slumped to a 52-year low.

Umpires like Ray Chamberlain already have enough complicated rules to deal with. Picture: Michael Klein.

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Collingwood president Eddie McGuire — a member of the AFL’s coronavirus “war cabinet” as well as the competition committee — last week called on the AFL to break the game and “fix it and make it better”.

McGuire said shorter quarters would better suit the lifestyles of modern-day fans.

“We’re competing against movies. We’re competing against Netflix. We’re competing against concerts. We’re competing against people going to restaurants,” McGuire said.

But fellow “war cabinet” member and Western Bulldogs president Peter Gordon said he “loved the game in its traditional length”.

“We shouldn’t use this time to experiment excessively just for the sake of it. People are coping with enough change already,” Gordon said.

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Originally published as AFL adds starting positions at all stoppages to list of rule changes it won’t consider