AFL uses Hawthorn players at secret trial for radical rule changes
GILLON McLachlan has flagged more rule changes after the AFL used Hawthorn players to stage a secret trial at Etihad Stadium, saying the ‘status quo’ can’t continue. And he revealed the one that ‘makes sense to me’.
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POSSIBLE RULE CHANGES
Last touch out of bounds rule
Play on from backward kicks
Starting positions
UPDATE: THE AFL staged a secret trial of radical rule changes at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
The Herald Sun can exclusively reveal that Hawthorn players were invited onto the AFL-controlled venue to complete match simulation and training drills at the league’s request during their bye weekend.
The session was adjudicated by AFL field umpires and took place after the Hawks completed their main training run. The AFL filmed the session.
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It is understood the last touch out of bounds rule and play on from backward kicks were among the rules also trialed. Starting positions were also toyed with.
AFL boss Gillon McLachlan is a fan of starting positions.
“That was a trial where they looked at the bounce of the ball in the centre they trialled having to have six in the backline, six in the forward line and six in the middle, I think, they dragged various iterations of that,” he said today on SEN.
“If you had to start with six forwards and six backs and maybe two of them would have to be in the goalsquare... I don’t think anyone would notice, whether that creates more spare and eases congestion I don’t know, that’s what they’re having a look at but it seems to make sense to me.”
McLachlan said the league was open to a wide range of options to open up the game.
“He (football operations manager Steve Hocking) will look as widely as possibly as he can, I think he’s looking at 30-odd different things and he’ll work through that and if it’s zero it’s zero, if it’s 10 it’s 10, if it’s 30 it’s 30, and I’ll be clearly prosecuting where they land but I know he’s going to have a really strong set of recommendations.
“I think that Steve will come up with change, yes, I don’t think we’re going to be in the status quo. What that looks like I don’t know yet.”
The secret trial confirms just how serious the AFL is about tinkering with the game in an effort to reduce congestion from next season.
It is not the first time the AFL has experimented with a club. The league used North Melbourne as well as VFL clubs to stage secret trials of AFLX last year.
Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson has pushed for the AFL to all but abolish prior opportunity and it is understood that a stricter interpretation of holding the ball was trialed under his watch on Saturday.
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick, Carlton coach Brendon Bolton and Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley have also called for the holding the ball rule to be tightened.
It is extremely rare for clubs to receive permission to train on the Etihad Stadium surface. Officials from tenant clubs were on Tuesday surprised to learn about the Hawks’ secret run.
The Hawks’ home ground is the MCG and they usually train at the club’s Waverley headquarters.
The league recently assembled a ‘look of the game’ committee, which met for about three hours last Thursday.
The nine-man panel includes legends Malcolm Blight, Leigh Matthews and Gerard Healy and they discussed lengthening the goalsquare to allow kick-outs to clear zone defences.
The Hawks and the AFL are understood to share a cozy relationship.
Clarkson met AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan for a coffee last month to discuss blocking tactics, which left the four-time premiership coach frustrated after his team’s Round 8 loss to Sydney.
Ugly congestion and rolling mauls have marred the 2018 season and have ignited debate about the state of the game.
Scoring has dropped off with many games deemed unwatchable due to congestion.
The Hawks confirmed to the Herald Sun they took place in trial training drills at the AFL’s request after their main training session.
The state of the game was also discussed by the 18 senior coaches at McLachlan’s dinner party on Monday night.
Geelong coach Chris Scott recently called for 16-a-side to ease congestion while former coach Rodney Eade is an advocate for starting positions.
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