VFL and East Coast comp waiting to find out how new zones will work

The new VFL and East Coast competition will be the guinea pig for radical new zones in 2021. Coaches are hoping to find out soon how they will work.

The AFL will sit down with coaches from the newly formed VFL and East Coast competition in coming weeks to discuss how it will execute radical new zones next year.

Clubs in the new 22-team competition are still in the dark about the rules, including why they were chosen by the league and how the league will penalise players who transgress.

The AFL’s own live trials of zones with AFL teams led to dramatic delays before stoppages before the three pairs of players retreated into the 50m arc at each end.

But instead of introducing those rules in the AFL, the VFL and East Coast league has become the league’s new guinea pig.

Teams were told of the changes by the AFL without consultation, with the league also making clear in a memo to VFL and East Coast clubs how important it was to not criticise the code.

But Port Melbourne VFL coach Garry Ayres said on Thursday he was all for the zones, keen to promote more attacking football and a point of difference from the AFL.

He said his VFL teams had started keeping one or two forwards deep as far back as 2011 while rivals played 18-man hard presses up the ground, often getting easy goals over the back of those zones.

Under NAB League under-18 rules, a free kick is given to a team’s ruckman at a stoppage if the rival team does not have its three players inside 50m at each end.

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The AFL will trial more zones in the VFL and East Coast comp next season.

The AFL has told clubs it will have a series of Zoom meetings in coming weeks, where clubs hope the league will listen to feedback from experienced coaches on the best way to implement zones.

“I have always felt that if we are making change, it can only be for the betterment of football. I am all for it. If we didn’t change things, we would have so much we haven’t seen or experienced. So if this can add to more attacking footy and more goals I am all for it,” Ayres said.

“This could get more people to watch VFL and get more exposure and that can only be good.”

Clubs have been told the 22-team competition will have 16 rounds and involve Victorian teams travelling interstate two or three times per season.

Clubs which used to get a yearly grant from the AFL will now have those travel expenses taken care of by the league.

HOLD THE PHONE: JUDD’S LOCKEROOM TROLL WARNING

- Jay Clark

AFL champion Chris Judd says he expects clubs to start clamping down on players’ mobile phone usage to help minimise distractions inside the locker room and gym.

Judd said clubs stand to gain significant benefits from more closely monitoring and limiting phone use to not only enhance teammates’ bonds, but also combat the dangers of social media and abusive trolling.

The brilliant West Coast and Carlton midfielder, who was lauded for his training ethic and disciplined eating, said clubs had improved their training programs to a high level, forcing them to look at other areas for advantages.

Judd, who is football director at Carlton, said the phone issue was an opportunity for all professional sporting organisations.

“The phones are a big one,” Judd said on the Dyl and Friends podcast.

“It is hard to get (an) edge as time goes on because (AFL club) programs get better and better (but) I think the management of things like phones is such a huge edge for sporting teams in the future if they decide they really want to take it seriously.

Chris Judd says mobile phone usage is an area which clubs need to address.

“All teams talk about connection being such an important part of what they’re trying do, and mental health issues are rife everywhere.

“You can walk into a locker room at footy clubs and every player has just got their head in their phone. And some of these players are getting trolled while they have got their head in their phones so it is a double whammy.

“But even if they are not getting trolled in that time, they are still missing out on an opportunity to build and create connection with the people who have walked in the room.”

Some AFL clubs ban phones in meetings while others do not have concrete rules and simply require players to be respectful and engaged at the club.

Hawthorn premiership mastermind Alastair Clarkson once confiscated his players’ phones on an interstate trip to help reverse a run of losses.

Players are regularly warned about the dangers of social media and, increasingly, gambling on their phones.

Mobile phones are a constant at clubs as Joel Selwood does an interview on the phone.

Judd, who was a dual Brownlow medallist and premiership superstar, said phone use at footy clubs was likely to become a bigger talking point.

“I do suspect there will be more organised management of phones and some clubs are starting doing it a little bit,” he said.

“In the future, I think those seemingly smaller areas is where teams will be able to get outside returns.

“There are so few things that every player (on your team) is doing that is potentially negative to their performance.

“If you find one, what a gift. What an attraction. How easy is that (to address).”

Judd, 37, said he didn’t join social media until much later in his career and it was largely for business interests when he did get involved.

Former Carlton and GWS Giants defender Dylan Buckley said players regularly jumped on their phones inside the club and tapped into social media as soon as they could.

“It is so hard, it is honestly an addiction for a lot of people,” Buckley said.

“Even when I was playing footy, it was the first thing you would check.

“You want to find that comfort.”

Originally published as VFL and East Coast comp waiting to find out how new zones will work