The AFL has announced it will get rid of the centre bounce and the designated substitute as part of its rule changes for next season.<\/p>\n
From 2026 onwards, the ball will be thrown into the air to start games and at stoppages, as has been the case in AFLW since its inception in 2017.<\/p>\n
In the men’s game, the bounce was introduced at the start of quarters in 1887, while the use of a centre bounce after a goal was scored came in four years later.<\/p>\n
“The centre bounce has long been a part of Australian Football tradition, but as the game has evolved, there are several areas which will benefit from allowing umpires to simply throw the ball up at the restart,” AFL executive football manager Greg Swann said.<\/p>\n
“Currently, umpire pathways are being narrowed by the requirement of the bounce. It is a difficult skill to execute, and we believe is preventing some of our best umpiring prospects from progressing any further in the AFL pathway despite having elite decision-making skills.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The AFLW, since its inception in 2017, has opted for a ball-up rather than a bouncedown to start quarters and at stoppages. (Getty Images: Daniel Carson\/AFL Photos)<\/p>\n
Swann went on to say that the decision would have a positive effect in a number of areas.<\/p>\n
“By removing the skill aspect of bouncing the ball, umpires can focus their energy on adjudicating the game and consistency of decision-making,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We also anticipate this decision will be safer for umpires and players at the contest and lessen the likelihood of umpire contact at the restart.<\/p>\n
“The removal of the bounce we predict will also have a positive impact in the reduction of game length and produce a cleaner and fairer ruck contest, two areas we have been monitoring for the past two seasons.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The centre bounce has been a part of the game since 1887. (Getty Images: Will Russell\/AFL Photos)<\/p>\n
“Additionally, it will also create consistency across national competitions.”<\/p>\n
AFL great James Hird was among the first to comment on the announcement, describing the move to ban the bounce as a “bad decision”.<\/p>\n
“I think it is a bad decision re the centre bounce, it just favours the tallest guy in the ruck,” Hird told AFL Trade Radio.<\/p>\n
“You want guys [umpires] with craft. I am disappointed it is gone.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The issue of the substitute player became a major storyline in this year’s grand final. (Getty Images: Quinn Rooney)<\/p>\n
Retired AFL umpire Ray Chamberlain said there was an element of sadness to the league’s decision.<\/p>\n
But Chamberlain acknowledged the move would help address the issue of recruiting and retaining umpires.<\/p>\n
“I don’t think the game is in a position where it can necessarily be turning people back that could otherwise be fabulous in the role,” he said.<\/p>\n
“So, from that perspective, I can see the value and why or how it could be of benefit.”<\/p>\n
Chamberlain said there would be a mixed reaction among umpires.<\/p>\n
“You’ve got umpires who are just amazing at it,” he said.<\/p>\n
“They’ll be livid today to be seeing this because it’s kind of their thing and then you’d get the other half that go, “Mate, this is a battle for me, it’s something that actually a preventative mechanism’.”<\/p>\n
The sub rule has also been ditched in favour of a five-player interchange bench.<\/p>\n
It was criticised by Geelong coach Chris Scott after the Cats’ loss in this year’s grand final.<\/p>\n
“I’ll say one thing \u2014 and I hope this doesn’t sound like sour grapes: I think we all \u2014 and I’m at the head of the queue \u2014 will be rapt to see the back of the sub rule,” Scott said.<\/p>\n
“Besides the seriousness of the injury, the challenges there make planning difficult and it feels like a bit of deja vu in a respect. We were sort of waiting and waiting and it didn’t feel like we could make that sub until we had some clarity there.”<\/p>\n
Geelong star forward Jeremy Cameron injured his arm in the second quarter in a collision with teammate Patrick Dangerfield, but stayed in the game before coming off again after hurting himself in a one-handed tackle on Brisbane’s Jaspa Fletcher.<\/p>\n
Scott said after the game that uncertainty over the severity of Cameron’s injury made it difficult to manage the timing of making the sub.<\/p>\n
In the end Geelong subbed Rhys Stanley in a tactical move. Scans later showed that Cameron had broken his arm and would require surgery.<\/p>\n
In the AFL statement, Swann said that any additional changes to the rules of the game would be communicated after the next AFL Commission meeting later this month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The AFL has announced it will get rid of the centre bounce and the designated substitute as part…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":182057,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-182056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182056","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=182056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182056\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}