AFL secretly trials new version of football
Larissa Nicholson

The AFL has been quietly developing a modified form of Australian Rules that is played on a soccer field, which it trialled in a secret match between two VFL teams last weekend.

With the working name AFL X, the new version of the game allows just seven players from each team on the ground, far fewer than the usual 18-a-side, and is as part of a broader plan to become a year-round sport

AFL boss Gillon McLachlan, speaking after the Hawks Young Executive Wing grand final breakfast, said the concept had come from a brainstorming session with his staff.

He said the idea behind AFL X had been to attract non-football fans to the game and enable it to be taken to venues where football could not normally be played because they did not have an oval.

"It was an idea that came up, to develop a new product, that was able to work in different venues and look different, in a shorter and different format" he told Fairfax Media.

McLachlan said the trial match on the weekend had been a success, but plans to launch an AFL X competition are still a long way off.

The AFL's general manager of game and market development Simon Lethlean stressed that AFL X was still very much in its infancy.

He described it as an "internal think-tank" project, but said it had the potential fill a gap between a full-scale AFL games and the recreational AFL-9s format.

AFL-9s does not allow tackles or bumping, whereas AFL X does.

Lethlean said the weekend's AFL X match, run in four 10-minute quarters, had been a fast, high-intensity encounter which had left the VFL players involved exhausted.

By fielding smaller teams and playing on a soccer pitch, he said it was easier than full-scale football to take overseas and may one day form a part of the AFL's international expansion plans.

Lethlean also mentioned using the game in an off-season competition involving well-known, recently retired players.

Every sporting body wanted to expand its reach, he said.

"It's part of everyone's plan to be a 12-month a year sport," said Lethlean.

The innovation comes as sports compete for the best athletes and bigger audiences. Cricket is an example of a sport that has launched a shorter format with spectacular success, Twenty20 becoming a massive money spinner and compelling TV product.

The AFL's inaugural women's competition kicks off in February, an early start that would allow the players to remain involved in their local competitions and ensure they were not pitted against the men's season.

Asked whether a future AFL X series would compete for public attention with the women's game, Lethlean said it was too early to give that any consideration.

AFL staff will now review footage of the AFL X game between VFL players from the weekend and review statistics from the match.

"I hope it leads to more people playing our game," Lethlean said.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/afl-secretly-trials-new-version-of-football-20160907-gral7s.html