1. Free kick for out of bounds on the full - 1969
It was not until the late '60s that out of bounds on the full was paid as a free kick. Prior to that players had the option of kicking the ball out of play in much the same way as a rugby player would kick the ball into touch. With the advent of the new rule, players were forced to keep the ball in play more often, with the result being more action on the field and less stoppages.
2. Centre Diamond introduced - 1973
A photo from the 1971 season showing all 36 players during a Hawthorn and St Kilda game crowded around a centre bounce became the centrepiece in a push to clear congestion from the game. It was finally decided that a centre diamond, with 45m sides, be marked on the ground to prevent a repeat of those scenes from 1971. Only four players per team were allowed into the diamond at centre bounces, and while the diamond was replaced by a square in 1975 and the sides of the square increased to 50m in 2004, it is still basically the same model we use today.
3. Umpires replace captains to award free kicks - 1872
Football's founding fathers had high hopes for a game that would not only build fitness for cricketers during the winter months but would also be run by gentleman. To that end they decided that the captains of competing sides would be charged with the responsibility of awarding free kicks. It soon became apparent that a player, no matter how pure his intentions, may have a bias, and after 14 years of allowing captains to pay frees, independent umpires were introduced. It was the right move and without wishing to suggest that our current crop of skippers wouldn't be scrupulously fair, it's hard to imagine the Eagles' Darren Glass calling frees from full-back or Chris Judd giving himself as many Brownlow votes as he gets under the current system!
4. Siren replaces the bell - 1950
For almost a century the game relied on a man ringing a bell to signal the end of play for each quarter. By the end of the 1940s there was a better way of letting umpires, players and fans know that time was up and they had the recent end of World War II to thank for it. Sirens had played a major role in public safety during the war, with many an Englishman's life saved thanks to air-raid sirens that sounded out to warn of imminent bombings by the Luftwaffe. It was that technology that was put to a far happier use when the bell was finally replaced at footy grounds by a blaring siren.
5. Player bouncing the ball deemed in possession - 1976
Known as KB's rule, a player who bounced the ball prior to being tackled was penalised for incorrect disposal at the start of the 1976 season. Kevin Bartlett had become adept at timing the bounce perfectly to draw a free kick, a point he emphasised by throwing his arms in the air to alert even the most obtuse field umpire. Kevin blames the great Ron Barassi for bringing down the curtain on his cunning ploy when Ron wrote a scathing article on the little champ during the 1971 final series in which he accused KB of milking free kicks. It took five years, but eventually the authorities agreed with Barassi and the days of the bounce and release method were over.
6. Boundary umpires given whistles - 1955
Our umpires cop enough grief without being humiliated in the line of duty. Until 1955 the boundary umpires signalled the ball was out of bounds by waving a white handkerchief. Just imagine what would be said over the fence today if our boundary umps had to impersonate a damsel hailing a horse and buggy every time the ball went of bounds!
7. 15m penalty increased to 50m penalty - 1988
The rule makers' job will never be complete as long as coaches try to bend the rules of the game to favour their side. During the mid '80s the wiliest coach of them all, Kevin Sheedy, realised that a 15m penalty was a small price to pay to hold up the play and allow his players to man up on the opposition. The game's governing body was quickly on to Sheeds and changed the penalty for delaying a free kick or mark to 50m to rightly reflect the impact the tactic had on the game.
8. Flick pass banned - 1966
The flick pass had come and gone for over fifty years before finally being given the flick for good in 1966. A modified handball that saw the ball swatted with an open hand off the palm, had been banned in 1925 but was re-instated in 1934. Footscray was considered most adept at the quick method of ball release and used it to great advantage during the 1961 season when they made the Grand Final. In fact, so good had its players become at using the flick pass that it was difficult to know whether they were flicking or throwing.
9. Free kick for intentional rushed behind - 2009
In recent years there has been an unprecedented number of rule changes, but the one that seems to have been met with universal approval is a free kick for an intentional rushed behind. After being met with initial scepticism, it has seen players keep the ball alive when they would previously opt for the safety of the goal line. Most importantly, it prevents a side from running down the clock at the end of a tight game, as was the case when Richmond's Joel Bowden walked through two points in quick succession in the closing staging of his side's four-point win over Essendon in 2008.
10. The abolishment of the little mark - 1897
When the VFL was formed in 1897 one of their first orders of business was to abolish the 'little mark'. It was a good thing too as the 'little mark' was the very odd practice of touching the ball with your boot then handing it to a teammate who could then claim a free kick. The rule change effectively stated that a player in possession of the ball at a free kick or mark is charged with the responsibility of disposing of the ball, making the game distinct from rugby or soccer where any player on the team can take a free.
