{"id":11059,"date":"2025-07-21T14:33:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T14:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/11059\/"},"modified":"2025-07-21T14:33:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T14:33:08","slug":"chris-scott-and-sam-mitchell-discuss-hot-topics-in-the-afl-abolishing-the-sub-rule-length-of-quarters-steven-may-tribunal-hearing-father-son-selections-umpire-dissent-greg-swann-afl-360-latest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/11059\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris Scott and Sam Mitchell discuss hot topics in the AFL, abolishing the sub rule, length of quarters, Steven May Tribunal hearing, father-son selections, umpire dissent, Greg Swann, AFL 360, latest news"},"content":{"rendered":"

Never has conjecture over the state of Australian rules football felt hotter than it does right now, as the league\u2019s newest football boss, Greg Swann,<\/a> descended at AFL House on Monday morning.<\/p>\n

The now-former chief executive of the Brisbane Lions has publicly stated that he has \u201c43 pages of stuff\u201d that people across the league want him to fix<\/a>, as the 2025 home-and-away season edges closer to the finish line.<\/p>\n

FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every match of every round in the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE in 4K, with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer.<\/a><\/p>\n

Joining AFL 360 at the conclusion of Round 19 on \u2018Coaches Night\u2019, two of the competition\u2019s mastermind coaches in Chris Scott and Sam Mitchell were quizzed on numerous topics that could be on Swann\u2019s agenda in the coming months.<\/p>\n

From the contentious sub rule, to the upcoming Tribunal hearing of Steven May, to the length of quarters \u2014 among several other things \u2014 the two-time Geelong premiership coach and Hawthorn great provided their two cents on a range of issues.<\/p>\n

Read the full transcript of their discussion below:<\/p>\n

SUB RULE<\/p>\n

Sam Mitchell: \u201cNo, get rid of it. It\u2019s horrible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chris Scott: \u201cSame.\u201d<\/p>\n

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 \u201cyes\u201d.<\/p>\n

Scott: \u201cIt was brought up (recently), and there were no dissenters. I\u2019m pretty sure most of the coaches were there last time we were together.\u201d<\/p>\n

LENGTH OF GAMES<\/p>\n

Scott: \u201c(It can be tidied up) easily. I think the game\u2019s 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\u2019ve had players come from the interchange bench and get to the stoppage, because the umpires are waiting for the ruckmen. If a player\u2019s there, throw it up. If there are no players there, there it up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mitchell: \u201cI\u2019m 120 (minutes total in a game). I like the game, I want more of the game \u2014 but less of the stuff in between. I like 120, I\u2019d love a 30-minute quarter and when it gets to 29 minutes, you\u2019re waiting for the siren. At the moment, we send a message out to our players sometimes going: \u2018This is going to be a 34-minute quarter\u2019. That\u2019s too long.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scott: \u201cI think I\u2019d probably come a little bit more towards you if the playing time was the same, but the wasted time was removed.\u201d<\/p>\n

‘Laws & Innovation’: Swanns new role | 03:54<\/p>\n

BOUNCING THE BALL \u2014 STAY OR GO?<\/p>\n

Mitchell: \u201cI\u2019m 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scott: \u201cNo bounce.\u201d<\/p>\n

DRAFTING FATHER-SON PLAYERS AND ACADEMIES<\/p>\n

Scott: \u201cAnd no father-son while we\u2019re at it!\u201d Scott continued tongue-in-cheek.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Academies serve a purpose, you\u2019ve just got to pay the right price for the player. And I think if it\u2019s really important to develop the game in New South Wales and Queensland, Geelong and Hawthorn (for example) can help with that as well. Let\u2019s get up there and really grow the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kingy & Joey clash over May bump | 05:59<\/p>\n

SIMPLIFYING THE GAME FOR UMPIRES<\/p>\n

Mitchell: \u201cThat\u2019s 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\u2019s \u2018trying to get hurt\u2019 that he is disincentivised to do that. That is something I would lean towards.\u201d<\/p>\n

STEVEN MAY\u2019S UPCOMING TRIBUNAL<\/p>\n

Scott: \u201cIf I were the MRO, I wouldn\u2019t have put it up.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked by Garry Lyon whether the collision was a \u2018football accident\u201d, Scott agreed.<\/p>\n

Scott: \u201cThe 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\u2019re 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\u2019ve been very easy for him to turn his body to protect himself. He\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mitchell: \u201cWell we\u2019ve got them (Melbourne) in a couple weeks, so I\u2019ll be a little bit biased,\u201d he joked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think he was trying to hurt him, so I think intent should be taken into account with the MRO more than outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gaz flames 50m penalty as a ‘disgrace’ | 00:41<\/p>\n

IS DISSENT BACK IN OUR GAME?<\/p>\n

Scott: \u201cWell it\u2019s, not is it? Has that been explained to you (Mitchell) that if you point to the scoreboard, it\u2019s a free?\u201d<\/p>\n

Mitchell: \u201cA couple of years ago I feel like it was explained, and it hasn\u2019t been one since.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scott: \u201cHe\u2019s (Worner) not even engaging with the umpire here!\u201d<\/p>\n

Mitchell: \u201cI have a vague memory, that when the dissent (rule) first came in, that if you point to the scoreboard, that\u2019ll be 50 (metres). But that\u2019s happened a lot of times since then, and it hasn\u2019t been paid … let\u2019s see if it happens again this week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scott: \u201cFor me, it\u2019s a bit like the protected area (rule). You see a 50-metre penalty paid, and you go: \u2018Yeah, that is a 50 \u2014 the problem is, you missed the 50 before that\u2019. If you\u2019re going to pluck that out and say: \u2018No, that\u2019s right\u2019 \u2014 alright, communicate it to us and players won\u2019t (do it). <\/p>\n

\u201cMy point is, if he\u2019s talking to the umpire saying: \u2018LOOK AT THE SCOREBOARD\u2019… he didn\u2019t do that! He was looking at it for his own curiosity (and saying): \u2018Oh yeah, that was a bad free kick\u2019. And it was! Two stinkers.\u201d<\/p>\n

DOES TASMANIA NEED A ROOF AT AFL GAMES?<\/p>\n

Mitchell: \u201cLet\u2019s just keep Hawthorn in Tassie playing games there!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Never has conjecture over the state of Australian rules football felt hotter than it does right now, as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11060,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[13039,13026,64,63,689,13032,12551,13023,13029,3237,12923,13022,1818,13037,13040,13038,13033,10145,12147,6278,13028,13030,7289,11285,13035,3465,13036,673,13025,677,701,13031,12936,13034,13024,85,8018,13027,10139],"class_list":["post-11059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-actual-quarter-length","tag-afl-board","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-football-league-house","tag-australian-rules-football","tag-bit-matters","tag-bounce-guy","tag-brisbane-lions","tag-chris-scott","tag-contentious-sub-rule","tag-david-king","tag-father-son-players","tag-father-son-selections","tag-finish-line","tag-football-accident","tag-garry-lyon","tag-gaz-flames","tag-greg-swann","tag-home-and-away-season-edges","tag-hug-outliers","tag-interchange-bench","tag-kingy-ampamp-joey","tag-laws-ampamp-innovation","tag-leigh-montagna","tag-long-time-club-executive","tag-new-south-wales","tag-now-former-chief-executive","tag-oceania","tag-queensland","tag-safety-element","tag-sam-mitchell","tag-score-reviews","tag-split-second-moment","tag-sports","tag-steven-may","tag-sub-rule","tag-umpire-dissent"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}