AFL confident rule changes will have instant impact in men’s game after success in first AFLW matches

The AFL is confident its nine rule changes for next season will have an instant impact after seeing eight of them introduced for the first round of AFLW, which produced more attacking and free-flowing football.

Bulldog Hannah Scott played on at almost every opportunity from a kick-out on Saturday night. Picture: Getty

The AFL is confident its long list of rule changes will have an instant impact after a summer of tactical scheming by AFL clubs.

But AFL football operations boss Steve Hocking won’t promise higher scores despite intervening after scores plummeted to their lowest levels since 1968.

Hocking was encouraged by the “flow” of the game in Round 1 of the AFLW after the women’s code implemented eight of the nine rule changes brought in for the men’s season.

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He said teams broke from the centre square with more speed, played more attractive football and also played a safer brand of football with less stoppages.

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson said centre bounce goals will skyrocket and believes new rules will force clubs to play two established ruckmen.

Hocking spent 2018 studying the effects of potential rule changes and said they would improve the game without it looking like a different code.

Bulldog Hannah Scott played on at almost every opportunity from a kick-out on Saturday night. Picture: Getty

Ash Brazill had the kick-in duties for Collingwood. Picture: Getty

“Full credit to the coaches and players. We were really pleased with the weekend,’’ he told the Herald Sun.

“At the centre bounces we saw an immediate effect, the ball definitely moves more freely out of the centre. We saw lots of examples where the ball went into the forward line and it was a one-on-one contest. The kick-in rule emerged over the weekend and if you watched the games on Saturday night, by Sunday the women were using different kick-in strategies.

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“We are not so much concerned about scores (in the men’s game), we are trying to prize the game open a bit. That’s what happened in the AFLW.

“The word is rhythm — getting coaches, players and umpires in rhythm and the fans enjoying that.

“For anyone watching the game and sitting there trying to assess the rules, it is more open but you are not sure what else is too different. We don’t want something jarring, we don’t want to blow the game up.

“It was more about trying to prize the game open.”

Nina Morrison (left) was best on ground for Geelong in her AFLW debut. Picture: Getty

Official statistics provider Champion Data has ruled that when a player kicking out clears the goal square they will be rewarded with an official kick or handball.

Hocking is happy with that ruling but open to reviewing it at year’s end given many kick-in experts will log another 10 official possessions a game.

The ruling will have SuperCoach implications given Sydney’s Jake Lloyd had 150 kick-ins last year, West Coast’s Shannon Hurn 126 and Richmond’s Jayden Short 105.

“That may be an issue for fans but it’s not for us. It is something we will look at in 2019 and if there is something that needs to be addressed around that, we will take it on board,” Hocking said.

Hocking said the weekend of AFLW action, with a series of one-kick games and wins to expansion sides North Melbourne and Geelong, was an unqualified success.

“I think what was noticeable in season three is the skill of the players,” he said.

“They are taking on more as far as kicking the ball back inside, there was more one-touch handballing, the younger players that came into the game instantly had an impact and full credit to North Melbourne and Geelong who won their opening games.”