Hocking faces big decisions

NEW AFL football boss Steve Hocking will slide his feet under new his desk today and be hit with an avalanche of the AFL’s most contentious topics.

Hocking starts as Simon Lethlean’s full-time replacement after being plucked from Geelong by AFL boss Gillon McLachlan.

But rather than easing into his position he must soon make decisions which will have a significant bearing on the direction of the game.

Hocking, replaced at Geelong by Simon Lloyd, already has a long list of contentious topics on his agenda. They include: A TRIBUNAL overhaul, where Hocking is expected to expedite contentious MRP hearings to the morning after games. Hocking is also expected to consider a system where players can take football related incidents to the tribunal without losing an early discount;

THE bounce, with the AFL now to rule on the future of the bounce at its November Commission meeting. The AFL umpires, still working through a CBA negotiation, have made it clear they will consider their options if forced to bounce next year. Some Laws of the Game members believe its abolition is inevitable.

EXTRA time in home-andaway games, with McLachlan already setting that topic as a Hocking agenda item. He said extra time in the Port Adelaide-West Coast final was so “compulsive” Hocking will investigate whether to abolish home-and-away draws.

INTERCHANGE, with the league finishing its two-year assessment of 90 rotations amid calls to further reduce that total. Lethlean had said the league would talk with coaches to assess whether to cut them to ease congestion.

FURTHER rule trials in the JLT Challenge, with calls to trial starting points (or zones) as well as 16-a-side in the preseason challenge. Geelong coach Chris Scott says 16-aside would be the “simplest and probably most effective” way of combating congestion.

PRIOR opportunity and whether the league considers a tweak given confusion around the holding-the-ball rule.