TORPEDO goals from outside 50m worth 12 points and penalties for contact between opposing ruckmen at stoppages may be implemented as part of a series of proposed rule trials for the 2012 NAB Cup.
AFL football operations manager Adrian Anderson said the League is again seeking the input of football supporters through a survey on AFL.com.au as it considers how to differentiate the pre-season competition from its home and away counterpart and to experiment with rules that may benefit the game on a permanent basis.
Anderson said some of the potential trial rules on which feedback was being sought were:
- Interchange - two interchange players and two substitute players
- Boundary and goal umpires to pay holding and high contact free kicks
- Free kick against player who drags or holds ball under opponent
- Nine points for goals kicked from outside 50m (with player retaining the choice to kick from within 50m for six points if a 50m penalty is applied beyond the arc)
- Double points for a torpedo goal kicked from outside 50m
- Deliberate out of bounds to be decided by last kick/handball/walkover (a variation on 'last touch' from 2011)
- Ruckmen not permitted to make contact prior to field bounces and throw-ins
- Premiership season rules to apply for all last-round NAB Cup and Challenge matches
"The AFL will make a decision on any trial rules that will be used before the end of this year to see if we can continue to improve our game, and ensure we retain the great highlights of our game," Anderson said.
In recent years, the AFL has used the NAB Cup to preview innovations such as the revised ruck rule at centre bounces, the altered advantage rule, the player substitute rule and the rushed behind rule - all of which have since become part of the premiership season and the Laws of the Game.
The NAB Cup starts on February 17, with each club to again play two shortened matches in their week one pool against the other two sides, comprising two 20-minute halves across a three-hour window for the three matches. They will then play full-scale matches in weeks two and three of the NAB Cup.
Click Here to complete the survey
