Umpires will be given the job of speeding the game up amid changes new AFL football boss Greg Swann wants to see

Greg Swann went from singing the team song with Brisbane to an AFL executive on Monday and his eyes were focused on what changes he could make.

New AFL football boss Greg Swann has put loping ruckman on the clock, booking meetings with umpires on his first day in the hot seat on Monday in a bid to speed up the game as he goes through “43 pages of stuff” people want him to fix.

Swann also said fans “deserve to understand” decisions made by umpires and the match review panel, with a plan for more transparency part of the bulk changes coming for the former Brisbane Lions chief executive.

Swann started his new job on Monday and revealed the game’s speed was among key issues he’d look to address, with potential changes coming as soon as he can orchestrate them.

“I’ve only just started, obviously, and I’ve got some meetings this afternoon with the umpires … but it’s just around the set-ups and the waiting for rucks to get to contest,” Swann said.

Marc Pittonet and Max Gawn contest the ruck. Picture: Michael Klein

“Even at boundary throw-ins, waiting for them to get there. There’s a chance to actually speed that up a bit. There’s good vision and video of rucks taking 20 seconds to come from one end of the ground to the other while the other one stands around and waits.

“To me, that’s something that hopefully we can have a look at and maybe address even before the season finishes.”

Swann said it was “too early” to talk about whether the four-umpire system was working, but the bounce to start quarters and after goals could also be on the way out should the majority view of clubs come to fruition.

It won’t happen in 2025 but could come into play in 2026, with umpires instead just throwing the ball up.

“We’ll do some work on it,” Swann said.

“In the next little bit, I’ll get around to all the clubs and just get their views. I’ve had some clubs already ring and give me their views and I’d say the majority are in favour of throwing the ball up, but we’ve got to do a little bit of work around that.

New AFL football boss Greg Swann won’t plan anything radical. Picture: NewsWire / John Gass

“Obviously, that’s not going to happen until next year, but we’ll have a look at that as well.”

Swann said transparency around decisions made by match review officer Michael Christian, in the spotlight this week after Melbourne defender Steven May was sent straight to the tribunal, was something that could be addressed to alleviate supporter angst.

“We’re not going to explain everything away because otherwise you’d be here all day,“ Swann said.

“But there’s some things that are a bit contentious that I think people deserve to understand why we’ve gone a certain way.”

Despite impending changes, Swann was adamant the AFL was the “best game in the world” and anything he did from now was purely to make it as good as it could be.

“I lived up in Queensland obviously and you get rugby league and everything else – our game leaves them in the shade,” he said.

“There’s nothing radical that needs to happen because I think the game’s a fantastic game. Viewership, attendances, memberships – they’re all as high as they’ve ever been. We just want to make sure that the game is good.”

Originally published as Umpires will be given the job of speeding the game up amid changes new AFL football boss Greg Swann wants to see