Rule changes only in October

THE AFL has committed to instituting yearly rule changes only in October, to try to prevent adjustments that have irritated clubs and fans.

The decision was the headline finding of the AFL’s new competition committee, which met for the first time yesterday in Melbourne.

AFL football operations boss Steve Hocking said the 12man group, which includes Collingwood president Eddie McGuire and Geelong champion Patrick Dangerfield, agreed on the move as a start to tackling a broad range of issues facing the game.

But decisions on hot topics such as mid-season player movement, efforts to reduce congestion and the future of AFLX are yet to be made, with the committee set to flesh out those concepts further at meetings in July and August.

The AFL caught teams off guard in December 2016 when it introduced rule changes including banning the third man up at ruck contests, a stricter interpretation of deliberate rushed behinds and a crackdown on striking.

Hocking said he did not dispute that such changes could be viewed as knee-jerk reactions.

“That may be a view from that,” he said. “If you think about how [clubs] can set up for the next season, it’s done through that October, November and December period . . . by the time they get to [January], they’re well and truly set.”