Footy boss Steve Hocking wants to take AFL into the future with introduction of starting positions

AFL football operations boss Steve Hocking is charging ahead with plans to introduce starting positions, declaring he wants to “take the game into the future” but how will it work?

THE AFL could dock rotations or limit the use of runners as penalties for clubs that next year flout rules over starting points.

AFL football operations boss Steve Hocking is charging ahead with the introduction of starting points, adamant he wants to “take the game into the future”.

The league will in coming weeks conduct a fourth club trial of starting points with St Kilda after successful 20-minute experiments with Hawthorn, Brisbane and Fremantle.

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A full game trial is also being worked through with a state league side later in the season.

Ten AFL clubs have so far been shown footage of the trials, with Hocking adamant the difference in quality of football is “stark”.

He said on Tuesday starting points were already in effect in football, with down-the-ground vision used to instruct players exactly where they should be on the field.

The AFL is hoping introducing starting positions will ease congestion and improve scoring.

The difference with official starting points is that it would spread the ground out and allow skill-based players to thrive.

The AFL’s competition committee will meet on July 25 to consider a range of proposals that will in concert help to ease congestion.

Hocking was adamant on Tuesday the handful of flowing, open games only “reinforce” the need to act now.

The difficulty in introducing starting points to spread out the game is finding appropriate penalties if three pairs of players are not inside 50m at a stoppage.

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For instance, if one player from each side at either end of the ground was only a metre out of the 50m zone at a stoppage, who do you pay the free kick to?

One solution is taking away the use of a runner or docking interchange numbers in that game or in following weeks.

“That is the challenge to crack. It’s a hard one. It can’t be fines,” Hocking said.

Almost certainly a handful of potential rule changes will be put to the competition committee for approval, then elevation to the AFL Commission in August.

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“Starting points are already in place. It’s important to acknowledge that. Currently players are told where to stand on the field,” Hocking said of the congested nature of the game.

He said only a “marriage” of rules would solve the AFL’s issues given the pace at which clubs counteracted single rule changes.

“The days of one tweak which clubs catch up on in a pre-season are gone. They want the opportunity to catch up.

“We want to take the game into the future.”

But the scope of the interchange restrictions remains unclear, with Hocking saying a limit to 40 rotations might not be the “answer”.

The AFL is happy with its four-umpire trial. Picture: Getty

He is also keen to retain the speed and power in football, believing those attributes are real highlights of the game.

The AFL is happy with its four-umpire trial but believes it could need as many as 20 new umpires in its squad to execute it each week.

There is a current senior squad of 34 umpires, with 27 umpiring every week.

Umpires were less fatigued when they completed double-up games over the bye rounds and believe they could do it more next year.

The league is yet to decide whether it would need four umpires to execute its starting point rule if it comes in next year.

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