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Footy is completely unrecognisable from what it was a mere 100 years ago. Some would say 30 years ago. What it will look like in another 100 is impossible to even imagine.
But what can we expect in ten years?
More players
The time-honoured 18 men will never change. But the interchange bench is another issue. Not only will the AFL bring back the four-man bench, but a six man bench is also a real possibility.
The growing concern over player health will result in an extended bench with as many as two subs. I’m not sure how I feel about this one, but I do feel it is inevitable.
Interchanges in stoppage time
Leigh ‘Lethal’ Matthews wants interchange rotations to be limited only to after a goal. This would decrease the possibility of shock collisions like the one that KO’d Hawthorn’s Luke Bruest earlier this season.
I see this as another sooner-rather-than-later change, but with one big difference to Lethal’s suggestion. Interchanges should also be allowed during stoppages, such as throw-ins and ball-ups.
In conjunction with an extended bench, we could see a massive change in the game.
Imagine a game with 10 seconds on the clock. The ball goes out of bounds. The coach takes off his entire midfield brigade and replaces them with a six-man group of taggers to shut down the game.
NFL-style team changes like this could really change how the game is not only played but coached; the power to alter the entire make up of the game is power not known in our time at this level.
Armour
This will not be a popular change, but it is another inevitability. Players suing over injuries may well become a regular occurrence, but hopefully not.
Players being paid so highly their team deems them ‘too valuable for injury’ is almost nigh. If the Suns had a way to keep Ablett bruise free you know they’d take it.
When padding gets better and more discrete footy fans might be won over to the idea of their team’s million-dollar man wearing rib padding and a helmet.
One day, maybe when the materials technology is such that they won’t have to look like soft NFL players, shoulder pads to prevent AC joint injuries may well be the norm.
Light-up goal posts
This may sound strange, but hear me out.
The AFL could put special sensors in the padding of the goal post and opposing sensors in the Sherrin.
When the whole ball crosses through these sensors, the goal post lights up green for goal.
If not all of the ball crosses, they turn red. Engineers, get on it.
Names On Jumpers
When the players are armoured up they will all look alike. As such, names will be a necessity.
Twenty team competition
A nineteenth team in Western Australia and a twentieth in North Queensland have already been described as possibilities by the leagues boss.
This won’t happen any time soon, at least not until the Giants and Suns are pulling in crowds of 30,000 or more.
But these are the two next fastest growing regions in Australia and the AFL wants to be in every big market (and rightly so).
Tassie fans need to either convince Hawthorn or North Melbourne to relocate or trigger a mining boom in Strahan to even have a frothies chance in Billy Brownless’ place of hosting a team full time.
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.