AFL wants answers on how to fix game

PREMIERSHIP coach John Longmire has welcomed the new competition committee’s investigation into the state of the game.

The AFL continues to be plagued by congestion, poor skill levels and scoring levels at 50-year lows that are likely to get worse as winter descends.

AFL football boss Steve Hocking has officials David Rath, James Podsiadly and Brett Munro assessing all options.

Longmire believes restricted interchange would put even more stress on AFL players already at breaking point.

But he said yesterday he was happy to see the AFL’s new competition committee considering potential changes if it would improve the game’s aesthetics.

He says the skill levels in AFL footy are only low because of the extreme pressure put on players, with contested possessions at an all-time high.

But fellow Swans premiership coach Paul Roos blamed junior development yesterday, adamant his Fitzroy teams of 20 years ago had more elite kicks than current sides.

Hocking says he wants to “unpack” what is behind the low scoring and Longmire said the new committee was the place to have those discussions.

“It can easily be forgotten the number of poor games there have been over the generations and a couple of bad ones get a lot of press,’’ he said.

“It is interesting, this new committee, looking at these issues will be something on the agenda and it’s worth looking at. I am not opposed to looking at different ways of looking at things.

“I am not one to say leave the game alone completely.

“But let’s do it with perspective. There has been a lot of bad footy players over the years that didn’t get the viewing it does these days.”