Working party condenses 45 proposed rule changes down to six as major changes loom for 2019

AFL football operations boss Steve Hocking has revealed his working party has condensed 45 proposed rule changes down to six, as some clubs get ready for in-house trials while some put their hands up for 2018 game day tests.

St Kilda will trial the AFL’s new rules on Thursday morning. Picture: AAP Images

ST KILDA will on Thursday morning conduct the AFL’s fourth rules trial during a training session involving umpires at Moorabin.

AFL football operations boss Steve Hocking on Wednesday night revealed his working party had condensed 45 proposed rule changes down to six, including starting positions for all players after goals.

The anti-congestion measures were endorsed by the league’s Competition Committee and will be sent to the AFL executive and ultimately the commission before being introduced as early as next season.

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“I’ve been fairly clear that any changes will be certainly announced by October this year,” Hocking said.

“We’ve got a lot of time up our sleeve and we’ve got more work to do.”

While the Saints will trial the rules during a hitout at RSEA Park, Sydney chief executive Andrew Ireland revealed the Swans and Brisbane Lions reserves teams had agreed to trial several proposed rule changes in an upcoming NEAFL match.

Steve Hocking speaks to the media about the upcoming AFL rule changes. Picture: Getty Images

“There is a lot about the game that people like (but) congestion is an issue,” Ireland, a member of the competition committee, said.

Brisbane has also offered its Round 22 AFL clash against Gold Coast as a potential contest for experimentation.

“No one is playing for a draft pick, both sides would be going out to win,” Lions chief Greg Swann said.

“We would support it philosophically.”

SANFL, WAFL and VFL clubs were also “queuing up” to take part in regular season trials in the coming weeks, Hocking said.

The AFL commission will meet later this month where a push to trial rules at the highest level, endorsed on Wednesday by AFL boss Gillon McLachlan, would have to be ratified.

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Hocking said his team had already presented to 12 senior coaches and most major stakeholders.

“It’s probably unrivalled I’d say as far as all of the analysis and all of the different stakeholders we have worked with,” he said.

The former Geelong footy chief declined to detail all six rule changes, also likely to include a reduction in interchange rotations, but indicated they would work best if the majority were adopted.

“It’s the marriage of those things that we are considering and the comp committee are very clear on that now as well,” he said.

He said a double goal-square option floated on Wednesday was not among the short-list of six.

St Kilda will trial the AFL’s new rules on Thursday morning. Picture: Getty Images

Asked about concerns raised by fans and some of the game’s greats, Hocking said: “We totally acknowledge and definitely respect where the fans sit on this but at the same time we’ve got a duty of care for the game.

He said the congestion “bubble” had become “very, very small and for us it’s about how much air you put back into the bubble”.

“If you put too much back into the bubble, it definitely could explode,” he said.

“We’re not looking to drop things into the game to upset the rhythm of the game and that’s important to actually call that out.”

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