AFL football operations boss Brad Scott says he has resisted making changes to the stand rule ahead of the season because he came in with a mandate of “not changing any changes in the short term”.
Just hours before the season opener in 2021, then football operations boss Steve Hocking unveiled the new rule, which forces playing to stay stationary on the mark until an umpire calls ‘stand’.
Quizzed by Matthew Richardson about why the rule wasn’t altered again, Scott said he was intent on leaving the rules as they were until he had more time to assess during his first season as football operations boss.
“The game has undergone a lot of change in the last few years combined with the (COVID) environment we’ve all lived through,” he said on Sportsday.
“The last thing people need is more change. We wanted to get back into the footy (played) the way people know and love it.
“I came in with a mandate of not changing any rules in the short term, but in saying that, we have to keep a close watch on everything.
“Defence was clearly winning in the battle of offence versus defence, the stand rule whether you like it or not removes the first layer of defence and then the other layers of defence get diminished.”
While the stand rule won’t change this year, Scott recently announced a crackdown on umpire abuse as well as a stricter interpretation on holding the ball would be applied for the 2022 season.