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<\/p>\nCommentator Jonathan Brown was originally worried the rule would result in too many additional free kicks.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou feel like there will be 20 of them a game, but there was only a handful,\u201d Brown said on Fox Footy after the recent State of Origin game.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was only a kick or handball. I think it\u2019s a good rule and it speeds the game up a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Centre ball-up contests<\/p>\n
The centre bounce is gone and it\u2019s all ball-ups from here.<\/p>\n
In the hope they can return the centre ruck duel to more of a jumping contest, the league will stop ruckmen from moving over the centre line before they have physically engaged with their opponent.<\/p>\n
According to the AFL, only 21 per cent of last season\u2019s centre bounces featured a ruckman jumping in the contest. Instead, they opted to stand and block their opponent\u2019s leap.<\/p>\n
In the above example from the AFL last season, Tristan Xerri stands in Tom De Koning\u2019s path and he topples over while trying to get the tap. Such an act will be illegal in 2026.<\/p>\n
Demons skipper and veteran ruckman Max Gawn expects the biggest leapers, such as St Kilda recruit De Koning, to have a big advantage in 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is going to be a lot of jumping, and the guys that can jump will really excel. But some of the older guys like me will have to come up with a different way,\u201d Gawn told Fox Footy after the Origin game.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a few people like myself, Jarrod Witts, Darcy Fort \u2013 guys who have been around a while and don\u2019t jump as high as Tom De Koning \u2013 we will have to come up with something, but I think there were a few moments where Darcy Cameron stayed down that we can work with.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruck nominations<\/p>\n
League bosses clearly had lumbering ruckmen in their sights during the off-season as they have empowered umpires to restart play, both ball-ups and throw-ins, regardless of whether a nominated ruckman is present.<\/p>\n
If no one nominates for the ruck contest, the ball will be thrown up and players will have to wait for it to hit the ground before \u201cplay on\u201d is called \u2013 which sounds like a puck drop in ice hockey.<\/p>\n
Third-man-up hitouts are still outlawed.<\/p>\n
Last season, umpires sometimes waited 20 seconds or more for ruckmen to arrive, in the example above, both rucks were almost on the bench but then turned around and ran across the ground for a throw in, wasting more than 25 seconds.<\/p>\n
The stand rule<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve been here before, but the AFL is cracking down on not only any movement from the man on the mark but also anyone within five metres of the mark.<\/p>\n
Any player in that five-metre area can\u2019t back out of that zone and run away \u2013 they must also stand until play on is called.<\/p>\n
The example above from 2025 shows Geelong\u2019s Tom Atkins on the mark but backing away to cover the St Kilda player running past his teammate with the ball.<\/p>\n
The league hopes that by making Atkins stand in that situation, it will unlock more play-ons or quick-fire possessions as teams look to sprint ahead.<\/p>\n
The AFL will also demand umpires crack down on players who hedge off the mark to restrict support runners from linking up with teammates.<\/p>\n
The shrug rule<\/p>\n
Holding the ball is always controversial, but one aspect of it the league hopes to simplify in 2026 is that an attempt to shrug a tackle will now be considered \u201cprior opportunity\u201d, just like fending off or attempts to evade a tackler.<\/p>\n
As shown in the video above, Fremantle\u2019s Caleb Serong tackles St Kilda\u2019s Jack Higgins around the shoulders but Higgins shrugs and Serong\u2019s arms end up above his neck. In 2025, it was correctly ruled as a ball-up.<\/p>\n
But in 2026, Higgins would be ruled as having had prior opportunity to get rid of the footy, so te correct decision would be holding the ball.<\/p>\n
The league hopes this will make it easier for umpires to call holding the ball and keep play moving.<\/p>\n
AFL bosses also believe the shrug is being used to shift tacklers from shoulder-high to head-high contract to draw free kicks.<\/p>\n
Aligned kick-in times<\/p>\n
The player kicking in after a behind now has less time \u2013 just eight seconds \u2013 to restart play.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
St Kilda\u2019s Jack Sinclair and other players who take kick-ins will have less time to restart play in 2026.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the same amount of time afforded to players who have marked the ball or received a free kick elsewhere on the field.<\/p>\n
Again, this change is projected to help make quarters shorter.<\/p>\n
Gut punches<\/p>\n
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