New football boss Greg Swann talks changes to the game including shortened quarters

Greg Swann barely has his feet under his new desk. But the AFL footy boss is already planning some tweaks to the game that could be implemented as soon as this weekend.

New AFL football boss Greg Swann will meet with umpires in his bid to cut down game time.

On his first official day on the job, Swann met with key officials and will attend umpire training on Tuesday evening as he desperately seeks to shave multiple minutes off each quarter before season’s end.

The average match length has increased by seven minutes over the last decade, and is up by more than two minutes on last season.

Four games over the last two rounds - including Sunday’s Geelong vs St Kilda clash - have pushed beyond 130 minutes of total game time.

Greg Swann sings the song at his last game with the Lions. Picture: Getty Images

Swann identified ruck setups as key in trimming time, and didn’t rule out changes coming in this weekend.

“It’s just around probably the setups and waiting for ruckmen to get to contests, and even at boundary throw-ins we’re waiting for them to get there,” Swann said.

“There’s a chance to actually speed that up a bit, because there’s good vision and video of ruckmen taking 20 seconds to come from one end of the ground to the other and everyone stands around and waits.

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

Asked if tweaks could be made as soon as this weekend’s Round 20 games, Swann said “it depends”.

Swann wants to cut more dead time out of quarters. Picture: Getty Images

“I’m not sure how fast the wheels turn,” he said.

“But it’s a fantastic game. It’s the best game in the world. I lived up in Queensland obviously and you get rugby league and everything else – our game leaves them in the shade.

“It’s something that I just think the things I’m talking about, hopefully it’s weeks (to change rather than longer).

“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.”

He floated a more open media strategy and said that fans “deserve to understand” key decisions that are made with more explanations, and confirmed this masthead’s report that the centre bounce would be a key area of his focus in consultation with clubs in coming months.

Swann, who has typically been in favour of ditching the traditional centre bounce, said he had “ended up with about 43 pages of stuff that people were inquiring about” once news broke of his new role.

But the centre bounce remains a key point of contention

“That’s a long way off, but we’ll do some work on it,” he said.

“In the next little bit as well, I’ll get around to the clubs and get their views. I’ve had some clubs already ring and give me their views. 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.

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

GREG SWANN ON….

A “CEREMONIAL” CENTRE BOUNCE

“Whether you start the game off (with one is all part of it). In the Grand Final last year, the first bounce went sideways and they had to recall it, so you’d want to do the ceremonial bounce if it could go straight, but we’ll see.”

THE STATE OF UMPIRING

“I think they’re doing a great job. One of the things that’s difficult for the umpires is the rules. We just need to try and make them a bit simpler, whether it’s the stand (rule), holding the ball … that’s something that I’m really to talk to clubs and coaches and footy managers about, is there an easier way for these guys to have to adjudicate it? It’s a really difficult job. But in the main, I think they do a really good job. “

The way the game is umpired is always a hot topic. Picture: Michael Klein

THE FOUR-UMPIRE SYSTEM

“It’s way too early for me to talk about how many. But I think they do a great job.”

THE PRE-FINALS BYE

“You’d have a look at it. We’ll have a look at all those things.”

THE DISSENT RULE

“If you’re going to give away 50-metre penalties by pointing at the scoreboard or whatever, and everybody knows you don’t do it, then the coaches will go nuts. There’s been 13 of those this year, so it’s not just that one (on Sunday). Everybody knows you’re not allowed to do that, so don’t do it.

THE NORTHERN ACADEMIES/NGA SYSTEM

Having lived through those, they’re crucial up there for the development of the game. In my time in Queensland … the growth, participation is huge – it’s now bigger than South Australia. Having the academies and the work that gets done at the junior levels … if they don’t make it (in the AFL), they go back to local competitions. That’s important. The new draft value index is going to make a big difference to what you pay for those people now, so I think we need to let that run for a year or two. It will make a big difference to how many blokes you can and can’t get.”

West Coast have a 1-17 record. Picture: Getty Images

A WEST COAST PRIORITY PICK

“To be honest, I’ve been there. When we started off in Brisbane, we weren’t very good, either. And it’s difficult. But it’s a process. You’ve got to get the right people in the right slots – your list management, your fitness, your recruiting … there’s a whole lot of stuff that goes into it.

They’ve gone down a path now where they’ve got a fairly young team, but they’ve also had a lot of injuries as well.

They’re struggling, there’s no doubt about that. But that’s something that we’ll have a talk about.”

A MID-SEASON TOURNAMENT & INNOVATION

“We should always be looking at it. It’s the best game there is, but the reason for that is we keep trying to make it better, and I think that’s what we should do. Innovation is crucial to the game, and why wouldn’t we?”

KEEPING THE PEACE WITH CLUBS

“I haven’t had a fight yet. The advantage of being around for a long time is I know most of them. I’ve already had a few on the phone. I think it’ll be fine. Our job is to make the game better, and sometimes that doesn’t help some clubs and it helps other clubs more, but that’s the job.”

Originally published as New football boss Greg Swann talks changes to the game including shortened quarters