Rule Changes for 2016
Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2015 4:28 pmThe SANFL will introduce a cap of 50 rotations per game and award a free kick for a possession which goes out of bounds without being touched, for next season in a bid to reduce congestion and spread the game.
In the past seven seasons, rotations at league level have soared from an average of just 34 per match to a staggering 90 in 2015.
As a result, the SA Football Commission has endorsed the SANFL Laws of the Game Committee’s proposal, which has been developed using internal and external data during a lengthy process of consideration across the past two years.
‘’The primary concern and motivation of the Laws of the Game Committee was to address the call to make the game more attractive as a spectacle, which includes the spreading of players on the field to reduce congestion,’’ SANFL General Manager of Football Adam Kelly said, noting scoring rates have also dropped significantly from 208 points per game in 2006 to 152 in 2015.
Under the new rotation cap, teams will also be able to interchange players during quarter-time and half-time breaks, effectively giving them 59 rotations per match.
According to SANFL statistics, stoppages have now reached an all-time high of 108 per match, with throw-ins also reaching a record 35 per game.
Alarmingly, the data also suggests that on average, each stoppage creates another 1.4 stoppages.
Woodville-West Torrens coach Michael Godden, a member of the SANFL Laws of the Game Committee, said a cap on rotations was the best way to address the concerning trends.
‘’The pain felt by most teams when you lose a player early in games is exaggerated by the amounts of rotations and freshness of players coming on to the ground,’’ noted Godden.
‘’Two ways to fix that is to add another player to the bench or a substitute, which I think most people are not comfortable with.
‘’Or the other way is to reduce rotations and see whether that can create a more even playing field, particularly when you lose a player early in a match.’’
Declaring clubs would be able to adjust to the proposal, Godden noted keeping rotations under 50 would only be rewinding numbers back to the levels recorded in 2011.
‘’What we have to understand and be really clear with is that we would only be going back to 2011 levels,’’ said Godden.
‘’Everyone was pretty happy with the game in 2012 when Norwood won its first (of three) premierships.
‘’I sat back and watched the 2006 Grand Final and I would be guessing there would have been 20-25 rotations in that game. And the first quarter of that match in particular was an outstanding game to watch so I don’t think people should get too spooked by it.’’
Another by-product of the cap would be seeing the league’s star players remain on the ground for longer periods of the match.
‘’With the capped rotations, you would like to think that the better players will spend more time on the ground,’’ Godden said.
Retiring North Adelaide captain Greg Gallman, also a member of the SANFL Laws of the Game Committee, is confident players would adjust to a cap of 50 rotations.
‘’It’s not like we’ve had such high rotations for an extremely long time as (SANFL) players,’’ Gallman said.
‘’The stats show you only have to go back a few years and the average (rotations) was only around that 55 mark.
‘’Players are always able to adjust. It will reward the players who are better at the longer efforts with their running.’’
Gallman agreed with Godden in predicting a rotation cap would soften the impact of losing a player early in a match.
‘’The best thing would be that if you do end up losing a player – it won’t be as greater restriction in that you will still use the same amount of interchanges as the other team,’’ Gallman said.
In another rule change for 2016, a free kick will be paid against the team which kicks or handballs the ball out of bounds without it being touched, even if it bounces in front of the boundary line.
A player who spoils the ball, picks up the ball and ushers it over the line or taps the ball over the line will not be penalised provided that the action is not determined to be deliberate out of bounds.
Kelly said this rule change would encourage teams to attack through the corridor in another attempt to boost scoring and to reduce stoppage numbers.
‘’Through the sample of games that we tracked the occurrence of possession going out of bounds and resulting in a free kick there was on average four occurrences per game, this rule will result in less stoppages, multiplied by the evidence of repeat stoppages,’’ Kelly said.
The 2015 SANFL Laws of the Game Committee was chaired by SA Football Commissioner Dion McCaffrie and included Godden, Gallman, SANFL General Manager Football Adam Kelly, outgoing SANFL Football Services Manager Matt Duldig, SANFL Umpiring Manager Shane Harris and Central District chief executive Kris Grant.
http://www.sanfl.com.au/news/sanfl_news/3224/
In the past seven seasons, rotations at league level have soared from an average of just 34 per match to a staggering 90 in 2015.
As a result, the SA Football Commission has endorsed the SANFL Laws of the Game Committee’s proposal, which has been developed using internal and external data during a lengthy process of consideration across the past two years.
‘’The primary concern and motivation of the Laws of the Game Committee was to address the call to make the game more attractive as a spectacle, which includes the spreading of players on the field to reduce congestion,’’ SANFL General Manager of Football Adam Kelly said, noting scoring rates have also dropped significantly from 208 points per game in 2006 to 152 in 2015.
Under the new rotation cap, teams will also be able to interchange players during quarter-time and half-time breaks, effectively giving them 59 rotations per match.
According to SANFL statistics, stoppages have now reached an all-time high of 108 per match, with throw-ins also reaching a record 35 per game.
Alarmingly, the data also suggests that on average, each stoppage creates another 1.4 stoppages.
Woodville-West Torrens coach Michael Godden, a member of the SANFL Laws of the Game Committee, said a cap on rotations was the best way to address the concerning trends.
‘’The pain felt by most teams when you lose a player early in games is exaggerated by the amounts of rotations and freshness of players coming on to the ground,’’ noted Godden.
‘’Two ways to fix that is to add another player to the bench or a substitute, which I think most people are not comfortable with.
‘’Or the other way is to reduce rotations and see whether that can create a more even playing field, particularly when you lose a player early in a match.’’
Declaring clubs would be able to adjust to the proposal, Godden noted keeping rotations under 50 would only be rewinding numbers back to the levels recorded in 2011.
‘’What we have to understand and be really clear with is that we would only be going back to 2011 levels,’’ said Godden.
‘’Everyone was pretty happy with the game in 2012 when Norwood won its first (of three) premierships.
‘’I sat back and watched the 2006 Grand Final and I would be guessing there would have been 20-25 rotations in that game. And the first quarter of that match in particular was an outstanding game to watch so I don’t think people should get too spooked by it.’’
Another by-product of the cap would be seeing the league’s star players remain on the ground for longer periods of the match.
‘’With the capped rotations, you would like to think that the better players will spend more time on the ground,’’ Godden said.
Retiring North Adelaide captain Greg Gallman, also a member of the SANFL Laws of the Game Committee, is confident players would adjust to a cap of 50 rotations.
‘’It’s not like we’ve had such high rotations for an extremely long time as (SANFL) players,’’ Gallman said.
‘’The stats show you only have to go back a few years and the average (rotations) was only around that 55 mark.
‘’Players are always able to adjust. It will reward the players who are better at the longer efforts with their running.’’
Gallman agreed with Godden in predicting a rotation cap would soften the impact of losing a player early in a match.
‘’The best thing would be that if you do end up losing a player – it won’t be as greater restriction in that you will still use the same amount of interchanges as the other team,’’ Gallman said.
In another rule change for 2016, a free kick will be paid against the team which kicks or handballs the ball out of bounds without it being touched, even if it bounces in front of the boundary line.
A player who spoils the ball, picks up the ball and ushers it over the line or taps the ball over the line will not be penalised provided that the action is not determined to be deliberate out of bounds.
Kelly said this rule change would encourage teams to attack through the corridor in another attempt to boost scoring and to reduce stoppage numbers.
‘’Through the sample of games that we tracked the occurrence of possession going out of bounds and resulting in a free kick there was on average four occurrences per game, this rule will result in less stoppages, multiplied by the evidence of repeat stoppages,’’ Kelly said.
The 2015 SANFL Laws of the Game Committee was chaired by SA Football Commissioner Dion McCaffrie and included Godden, Gallman, SANFL General Manager Football Adam Kelly, outgoing SANFL Football Services Manager Matt Duldig, SANFL Umpiring Manager Shane Harris and Central District chief executive Kris Grant.
http://www.sanfl.com.au/news/sanfl_news/3224/
