The AFL Commission has today announced a number of changes ahead of the 2014 AFL Season, with the key focus on player safety and long-term health.
AFL General Manager Football Operations Mark Evans said the Commission had approved a number of changes to current interpretations of the Laws as follows to further protect players from head and serious lower leg injuries.
"The AFL’s long-term commitment is to both keep the game safe to play and great to watch by protecting the traditional highlights of our indigenous game that separate it from all other sports,” Mr Evans said.
“From our research, the number one guiding principle for fans is that the game should remain a physically tough and contested game with body contact, however nearly three quarters of fans agree that player welfare should be at the heart of the Laws.”
Mr Evans said the AFL’s Football Department had been guided by widespread industry consultation with Clubs, the AFLPA, AFL Coaches Association, AFL Medical Officers, key industry groups and fan research, along with the recent club summit on the Laws last month at the Gold Coast, before making its recommendations to the Commission.
These changes applied to:
- Head clashes involving bumps.
- Players leading with their head to initiate contact.
- Forceful contact below the knees.
- The use of strength in marking contests.
- Reducing the number of runners from two to one.
- Automatic penalty for being in the protected area.
- Use of the interchange.
“These amendments are in keeping with the AFL’s strong stance to protect against head injury,” Mr Evans said.
Mr Evans said the Commission had also approved a change to the wording of Law 15.4.5 (d), to provide greater clarity for the player who was seeking to contest the ball in marking contests, and to allow a greater measure of physicality between opponents.
The Laws has been amended to read that prohibited contact and a free kick will be paid against a player when he ‘… unduly pushes, bumps, blocks or holds … ’ in a marking contest.
“The change to the Law, with the introduction of the use of the word ‘unduly’ to define prohibited contact, is to allow players to use their bodies and reward the player whose genuine objective is to contest a mark,” Mr Evans said.
“A change to the Laws of the Game can only be put forward to the Commission once it has been determined there is a real and proven need for any change, and we must then provide a clear reference point for the AFL Umpiring Department,” Evans said.
“The Club consultation and Laws Summit feedback indicated strong support for marking players to be allowed the opportunity to use their body when protecting their position in the marking contest and allowing the controlling umpire the discretion to determine whether the force imparted by players within a marking contest is excessive and warrants a free kick.
“There will still be expectation that players demonstrate they are legitimately attempting to mark the ball, but players can use their body to protect space so long as those actions are incidental to the marking contest
Free kicks will continue to be paid in marking contests where a player unduly pushes, bumps, blocks or holds their opponent in a marking contest or forcibly or prematurely removes an opponent from the marking contest,” he said.
In August, the AFL Commission approved a cap on interchange rotations for the next two years across the 2014 and 2015 Toyota AFL Premiership Seasons of 120 rotations per match, plus any changes made at quarter breaks and the use of the substitute.
The interchange cap will not have any quarter by quarter restrictions, with the use of the interchange numbers per match to be managed as each club sees fit across the entirety of a game.
The Laws Committee comprises: Mark Evans (Chairman), Kevin Bartlett, Joel Bowden, Brett Burton, Rodney Eade, Tom Harley, Leigh Matthews, Michael Sexton and Beau Waters.
