Overview

• Football performance boss Greg Swann will present the proposal during grand final week as part of a broader package of rule changes.
• Under the mooted change, a free kick would be paid against the player who kicks or handpasses the ball out of bounds on the full between the 50‑metre arcs.
• Swann says league data points to roughly two extra free kicks per game, while figures distributed to clubs suggest about four or five.
• Hawthorn’s Sam Mitchell warned the shift could reduce throw-ins and risk marginalising tall ruckmen, whereas Gold Coast’s Damien Hardwick said he can accept it if the look of the game is not significantly altered.
• The measure mirrors rules already used in AFLW and the SANFL and is positioned as a replacement for the subjective ‘insufficient intent’ interpretation, with other proposals including scrapping the substitute for a five‑man bench and retaining a 75‑rotation cap.