The prospect of the AFL introducing zones appears dead following the release of the charter for the Laws of the Game which explicitly states that a feature of the game is “few restrictions” on players' whereabouts on the field.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The charter states there are nine guiding principles and one that states: “there are few restrictions on where players can be located across the ground”.
The charter for the laws of the game was released on Thursday, just days after premiership coach John Worsfold backed away from earlier support for zones.
Worsfold, who is on the AFL’s Laws of the Game committee, mooted the idea in June in order to restrict player movement and reduce congestion from around the ball.
A pre-season experiment could have seen up to three players from each side being forced to remain at either half of the ground at any one time.
The idea was met with skepticism from many in the industry, with Melbourne Demons coach Paul Roos openly hostile, saying it would make the game unrecognisable.
Worsfold told Channel Seven’s Game Day on Sunday that he didn’t know if zones would ever be discussed again.
“But we can't say, 'Let's fix the mauls', by not changing anything or not [exploring] other possibilities.
"At the moment, we're keen to just see the game evolve itself - see what coaches do about it."
