THE LONG 'bomb' looks set to be resurrected as an offensive weapon in 2011 as sides continue to look for ways to defuse defensive zones.

That's the view of Adelaide coach Neil Craig and his West Coast and North Melbourne counterparts, John Worsfold and Brad Scott.

The three spoke with afl.com.au at the AFL coaches and AFL Coaches Association meeting at Etihad Stadium on Thursday, when they all said there had been a trend in the NAB Cup - Scott first observed it late last season - of teams kicking long to get through defensive zones.

The trio agreed all teams were likely to continue to refine and improve their all-ground defensive strategies in an attempt to approach the benchmark set by Collingwood last year.

But Craig and Scott said the biggest change in the way the game was played in 2011 would come through the strategies used to counteract those defensive tactics. And the long kick might be among those strategies, they said.

"No doubt, the defence will continue to get more sophisticated and better drilled by a greater number of clubs and coaches, so the challenge will be the offensive side, how to get through the defence and kick a reasonable score," Craig said.

"In the NAB Cup, you've seen a few clubs using longer kicking to try and get over defences, which involves a bit less risk-taking with their ball movement."

Craig and Worsfold said they had observed sides doing this in general play, Craig adding some clubs had been mimicking Collingwood's style of play with long kicks down the boundary line.

All three coaches had observed the tactic at kick-ins, where sides, they said, were more prepared to kick down the centre of the ground.

"The long kick down the middle was valuable decades ago. In the last 10 years, it's been seen as a dangerous tactic," Scott said.

"Last year, it came back in and you saw for the first time in a long time players kicking torpedoes out from full-back.

"I think there will be some new ideas again but the long kick down the middle would be the one that's coming back into vogue."

Of the other possible 2011 innovations to counter the spread of defensive pressure, Scott predicted sides would tinker with their forward structures, while Worsfold said sides would increasingly block the man on the mark and play on.

There was a dissenting voice, however. St Kilda coach Ross Lyon told afl.com.au he was yet to be convinced the long kick was back, saying he thought quick and skilful ball movement and good decision-making were more effective antidotes for defensive zones.

Lyon also said people sometimes overlooked the fact defensive pressure, itself, helped sides score more heavily.  

"It's a double-edged sword, apply pressure and you score," Lyon said.

"So if you don't pressure sides very well, you don't tend to score very well either."

Lyon also found himself one out on another issue - whether the reduction of the interchange bench from four players to three players and a substitute in 2011 would decrease sides' ability to apply defensive pressure over a match.

Lyon downplayed the likely physical impact the new rule would have on players, saying St Kilda, as one of the lowest-rotating sides, thought only its ruckman and a key forward would be forced to take on greater workloads.

However, Scott, Craig and Worsfold agreed the new rule would mean the intensity of games, and the intensity of defensive pressure applied by teams, had to drop.