‘Cyril wouldn’t get out of there’: Plea for AFL’s new boss to fix ugly look... and bold solution

Amid a wave of new rule proposals following Greg Swann’s appointment as AFL football boss, veteran journalist Mike Sheahan has flagged a key issue he wants swiftly addressed.

Joining Fox Footy’s On The Couch once more on Monday night, Sheehan highlighted a number of examples during last Friday night’s blockbuster between Brisbane and the Western Bulldogs, where play was notably congested.

It was a stark contrary to the nail-biting end of Collingwood and Fremantle’s duel at the MCG on Sunday afternoon, where the Magpies laid just three tackles for the entire last quarter in a bid to play free-flowing football.

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“Why do we have a 6-6-6 set-up at the start of the game (and every centre bounce), and then allow 30 players to be in one half of the ground — or 25 to be in the forward 50?” Sheahan began.

Collingwood legend Nathan Buckley responded: “That’s not just 2025 though, is it? The advent of that’s been almost two decades in the making.”

“It (the 6-6-6 rule) is (new), but would you advocate for a stoppage in the midfield that we have a quota of players that should be in the 50s?”

The 6-6-6 rule was introduced into the AFL in 2019, in a bid to promote more uncontested football between sides, as well as prevent teams with a tight lead close in games from ‘flooding’ their defence at centre bounces. Beyond the centre bounce however, there are currently no restrictions on where players must be.

Teams are warned once if they do not adhere to the rule within 60 seconds of the most previous goal, before a second infringement results in a free kick for the opposing team.

Scott: "The games too long, full stop" | 05:32

“I just want to get rid of this. Cyril Rioli wouldn’t get out of there. We’ve had ball-up, after ball-up — because that’s the way it’s played. The emphasis on tackling is so great; there were seven of these neutral contests in a row!” Sheahan continued.

When asked by On The Couch host and three-time Richmond premiership player Jack Riewoldt how the issue can best be fixed, Sheahan was unsure.

“Swanny is a good man, he’s an experienced football person. But he said at the weekend that the game was in fantastic health... I reckon he’s got a to-do list that’s longer than Mason Cox,” he said tongue-in-cheek.

“I can’t understand any of you three saying ‘reward the tackler’, ahead of the bloke who’s won the footy ... I don’t know (what I want), I just don’t want that.

Close to half (!) of all players playing in last Friday night's Round 19 clash (19 of 46) were in the immediate vicinity of this stoppage. Source: Fox Sports

Buckley, who coached Collingwood to a grand final in 2018 during his decade-long tenure at the helm, believes that essentially removing prior opportunity will help prevent overcrowding around the ball.

“The answer to that is holding-the-ball in my mind, take away prior (opportunity),” Buckley countered.

“Take away prior, reward the tackler. And if you reward the tackler, then the ball carrier won’t hatch it for as long and he’ll kick it long out of that contest; it disperses it.

“You’ve got to reward the tackler if you don’t want that — that will disperse the congestion.”

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