‘Get rid of it!’: Rule gripes, ump ‘stinkers’ revealed in coaches round table

Chris Scott and Sam Mitchell joined the AFL 360 panel to discuss the hottest topics in the AFL right now and they did not hold back.

Never has conjecture over the state of Australian rules football felt hotter than it does right now, as the league’s newest football boss, Greg Swann, descended at AFL House on Monday morning.

The now-former chief executive of the Brisbane Lions has publicly stated that he has “43 pages of stuff” that people across the league want him to fix, as the 2025 home-and-away season edges closer to the finish line.

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Joining AFL 360 at the conclusion of Round 19 on ‘Coaches Night’, two of the competition’s mastermind coaches in Chris Scott and Sam Mitchell were quizzed on numerous topics that could be on Swann’s agenda in the coming months.

From the contentious sub rule, to the upcoming Tribunal hearing of Steven May, to the length of quarters — among several other things — the two-time Geelong premiership coach and Hawthorn great provided their two cents on a range of issues.

Read the full transcript of their discussion below:

SUB RULE

Sam Mitchell: “No, get rid of it. It’s horrible.”

Chris Scott: “Same.”

Asked by Whateley if he believes it would be an 18-0 majority of coaches in favour of removing the sub rule, Mitchell replied with a resounding “yes”.

Scott: “It was brought up (recently), and there were no dissenters. I’m pretty sure most of the coaches were there last time we were together.”

LENGTH OF GAMES

Scott: “(It can be tidied up) easily. I think the game’s too long, full stop. I think they should shorten the actual quarter length. But the score reviews ... the umpires waiting for the ruckmen to get to a stoppage is a complete nonsense. Sometimes, we’ve had players come from the interchange bench and get to the stoppage, because the umpires are waiting for the ruckmen. If a player’s there, throw it up. If there are no players there, there it up.”

Mitchell: “I’m 120 (minutes total in a game). I like the game, I want more of the game — but less of the stuff in between. I like 120, I’d love a 30-minute quarter and when it gets to 29 minutes, you’re waiting for the siren. At the moment, we send a message out to our players sometimes going: ‘This is going to be a 34-minute quarter’. That’s too long.”

Scott: “I think I’d probably come a little bit more towards you if the playing time was the same, but the wasted time was removed.”

BOUNCING THE BALL — STAY OR GO?

Mitchell: “I’m a bounce guy. I like the bounce, but no recalls. I think variability is one of the great parts of our game ... the best umpires bounce it well.”

Scott: “No bounce.”

DRAFTING FATHER-SON PLAYERS AND ACADEMIES

Scott: “And no father-son while we’re at it!” Scott continued tongue-in-cheek.

“I sort of am (serious though). I think all these things are romantic ideas. When you get to a really equalised competition where every little bit matters, the idea that you have these hug outliers ... I get it controversial, I get it would be pushed back on by the romantics.”

“The Academies serve a purpose, you’ve just got to pay the right price for the player. And I think if it’s really important to develop the game in New South Wales and Queensland, Geelong and Hawthorn (for example) can help with that as well. Let’s get up there and really grow the game.”

SIMPLIFYING THE GAME FOR UMPIRES

Mitchell: “That’s beyond (my scope). The thing I would like, as far as the safety element, I think it should be more incumbent on the player who’s ‘trying to get hurt’ that he is disincentivised to do that. That is something I would lean towards.”

STEVEN MAY’S UPCOMING TRIBUNAL

Scott: “If I were the MRO, I wouldn’t have put it up.”

When asked by Garry Lyon whether the collision was a ‘football accident”, Scott agreed.

Scott: “The way I think about these things, and the way we coach our players is, you have to be committed to the ball. But in a split-second moment you’re second to the ball, you have a very high duty of care to your opponent. I thought he delivered on his duty of care. It would’ve been very easy for him to turn his body to protect himself. He’s going for the bouncing ball, bit of a bad bounce (and) sits up a little bit. His arms are by his side; I thought he did everything he could to mitigate contact, and it was an accident.”

Mitchell: “Well we’ve got them (Melbourne) in a couple weeks, so I’ll be a little bit biased,” he joked.

“I don’t think he was trying to hurt him, so I think intent should be taken into account with the MRO more than outcome.”

IS DISSENT BACK IN OUR GAME?

Scott: “Well it’s, not is it? Has that been explained to you (Mitchell) that if you point to the scoreboard, it’s a free?”

Mitchell: “A couple of years ago I feel like it was explained, and it hasn’t been one since.”

Scott: “He’s (Worner) not even engaging with the umpire here!”

Mitchell: “I have a vague memory, that when the dissent (rule) first came in, that if you point to the scoreboard, that’ll be 50 (metres). But that’s happened a lot of times since then, and it hasn’t been paid ... let’s see if it happens again this week.”

Scott: “For me, it’s a bit like the protected area (rule). You see a 50-metre penalty paid, and you go: ‘Yeah, that is a 50 — the problem is, you missed the 50 before that’. If you’re going to pluck that out and say: ‘No, that’s right’ — alright, communicate it to us and players won’t (do it).

“My point is, if he’s talking to the umpire saying: ‘LOOK AT THE SCOREBOARD’... he didn’t do that! He was looking at it for his own curiosity (and saying): ‘Oh yeah, that was a bad free kick’. And it was! Two stinkers.”

DOES TASMANIA NEED A ROOF AT AFL GAMES?

Mitchell: “Let’s just keep Hawthorn in Tassie playing games there!”

Originally published as ‘Get rid of it!’: Rule gripes, ump ‘stinkers’ revealed in coaches round table