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

I am so sick of hearing about about AFL living in Tasmania.

When I'm in the league/union states, of NSW and Queensland, it is a pleasure to hear far less about AFL and consigning it to the irrelevance it is in terms of international sport. It is the only thing I dislike about living in a southern state in Australia.

 So much wasted money and media coverage is wasted on a sport nobody plays anywhere else on the world. I've travelled to 25 odd countries and  have never heard or read one word about stupid Aussie Rules!  Kids in urban school playgrounds don't play Aussie rules  anymore. Media saturation keeps it alive.

All other sports with the possible  exception of cricket's BBL are adversely effected by the amount  of resources that go into this stupid, irrelevant game.

I love reading comments on this  forum when residents of Queensland and NSW make disparaging comments about AFL. It is music to my ears! 

Always a laugh to read about the AFL and their international efforts. Last time they were ignored in China they were hyping the global appeal of Jason Akermanis.

Decentric, one for you..

I live in Sydney & AFL is irrelevant here, despite all the money they are shoving in NSW, it's till a shit sport that we cannot understand, no knock on when you drop the ball, no cross bar, no goalie, pts for missing.
As the Guardian portrayed it. 'It's like seagulls fighting over a chip'.

Always a laugh to read about the AFL and their international efforts. Last time they were ignored in China they were hyping the global appeal of Jason Akermanis.

I don't mind the sport itself but I absolutely loathe the way the sport's administration has essentially declared war on league, union and football in NSW and QLD. For that reason alone I will never pay a cent to attend a AFL game. Free ticket or fuck off.

It's amazing seeing how non-existant League is down here in Adelaide. United seem to be lumped in with basketball also - go local team and such. 

But AFL is just everywhere. Good thing I dont read the newspaper, watch the news or listen to much radio so I dont have to listen to it but when I do jeez it's sickening

This is why IMO we need the current licence model targeting specific markets for a while longer. AU provide exposure to the sport and that has an impact at all levels.

1. Interesting the AFL see a bleak future in their game so need to adapt it to get interest. 2. Even football is not taking over china. Anyone who has traveled there much knows there are hardly any football pitches, and people generally have better things to do than chase pig skin around a paddock. They'd have more chance with this pipe dream of using a basketball court as you see fifty times more of them than football pitches in China.

At best in the AFL they could make is 1mil p.a if your elite or otherwise settle for a couple hundred thousand p.a if your lucky,

I do agree.

If Adelaide were to be relegated this season and Sydney United promoted (last NPL winners), Adelaide wouldn't seem to even care judging by the media.  I'd imagine an NRL side would fare the same way as United.  "You're not footy, but you're Adelaide so we'll give you a 10 minute bonehead interview on Triple M"

I get what the AFL is trying to do by making it a year round sport but there is one major flaw in this.

At local level in Victoria. Basically all leagues bar the VAFA are riddled with excessive player payments that have been blown out of proportion in the last 7 years.
Due to these levels of payments, local football is now becoming a business. If a player is signed to a contract and gets a couple of thousand cash a year, theirs an expected level of commitment for at least 9 months of the year.
And generally in the off season between October-December players like their time off and most pre seasons start in December these days anyway.

So while AFL 7's & 9's may be a decent product at a social level. It's not going to take the southern states by storm over the summer anyway. Just my 2c on it.

I am so sick of hearing about about AFL living in Tasmania.

When I'm in the league/union states, of NSW and Queensland, it is a pleasure to hear far less about AFL and consigning it to the irrelevance it is in terms of international sport. It is the only thing I dislike about living in a southern state in Australia.

 So much wasted money and media coverage is wasted on a sport nobody plays anywhere else on the world. I've travelled to 25 odd countries and  have never heard or read one word about stupid Aussie Rules!  Kids in urban school playgrounds don't play Aussie rules  anymore. Media saturation keeps it alive.

All other sports with the possible  exception of cricket's BBL are adversely effected by the amount  of resources that go into this stupid, irrelevant game.

I love reading comments on this  forum when residents of Queensland and NSW make disparaging comments about AFL. It is music to my ears!