The sub rule, golden goal, double-up games and more. AFL 360 hosts Gerard Whateley and Garry Lyon make their calls on five contentious aspects of the game.
It comes after Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick and Sydney mentor Dean Cox gave their takes on potential rule changes on Monday night’s edition of the show.
And during 360’s Tuesday night ‘Real or Overreaction’ segment, Gerard and Garry took their respective stances.
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SHOULD DOUBLE-UP GAMES ONLY BE WORTH TWO POINTS EACH?
On Monday night, Hardwick — in easily the most radical change floated among this list — said on AFL 360: “Double-up games are only worth two points. So, your first double-up game, if you win it, you get two (points). If you lose the second one, zero points, or you’ve got to win the double to get your four.”
But Whateley couldn’t get on board with the idea.
“Well, I think because it’s convoluted in the way that people are trying to understand it, it’s an overreaction,” he said.
A graphic was then shown, identifying the key changes to last year’s ladder if Hardwick’s rogue idea was in effect.
Melbourne was the biggest riser, going from 14th to ninth, while Brisbane moved into the top-four at Geelong’s expense — but the teams that qualified for finals remained the same.
Whateley: “There is significant change — Geelong come out of the top four and Brisbane go in, the Giants rise … so, you get a different set of matchups for the qualifying finals, and then Melbourne are the big riser, so everyone sheds points … but Melbourne shed fewer points on the double-ups.”
Lyon added: “The bottom-line is the eight stays the same, it’s just some manoeuvring inside.”
Verdict: Overreaction
View the full reconfigured ladder in the video player at the top of the article.
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SHOULD THE SUB BE ALLOWED TO BE RE-USED FOR CONCUSSIONS?
Cox on Monday night flagged his desire to scrap the sub rule completely.
“We’ve got a few players sitting on the bench, (they) can’t come on (nor) certainly impact when you need them to,” he said.
“You’ve got to try and spend time throughout a game strategically (deciding) when you’re going to pull it — so, my thing is you have five there, just play five.”
But the idea of tweaking the rule to allow for the subbed-off player to come back on in case of a concussion resonated with Lyon.
“That’s real; that just makes sense,” he said.
“It’s a contentious issue anyway, the sub, and if you do pull the sub as (Collingwood last Thursday) did with Steele Sidebottom and minutes later Lachie Schultz cops (a concussion), then I think it’s … something that they should be looking at.
“I don’t know if they are, because they’ve been pretty wedded to the four and the sub, haven’t they? … I think (it’d be) a good compromise.
“You can’t manipulate it; you can’t pull a concussion, because you end up not playing the next week anyway.”
Verdict: Real
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SHOULD THE PRE-FINALS BYE BE SCRAPPED?
Cox was big on changing the placement of the bye, asserting: “The pre-finals bye should go before the grand final. The top-four teams that have spent the duration of the season being the best teams should get the best chance to proceed through to the finals they go.
“Since the pre-finals bye has come in, the differential has been so great.”
And Whateley completely agreed.
“That’s real,” he said. “It’s designed to dilute the advantages that the top-four had, and it’s absolutely done that — this is well-documented, we’ve run it through the years.”
Before the pre-finals bye, top-four teams went out in straight-sets five times, compared with eight times since the pre-finals bye was introduced.
“Straight sets (that were) historically rare for a long period of time have become commonplace. Premierships have been won from outside the top-four by the Bulldogs and the Lions. Teams have made grand finals.
“The problem is, we play 23 games along the way to establish an order, and it used to be that you had to win the right to a week off for a freshen-up, and that was the best advantage you could get.
“Now, everyone gets the freshen-up, and the problem has been the double-break has brought teams undone on their way to the grand final.
“Move it (to) before the grand final and then adjust the calendar to provide the build-up to that.”
Verdict: Real
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SHOULD ‘GOLDEN GOAL’ DECIDE GAMES THAT END IN A DRAW?
Cox was in favour of the idea on Monday night, saying: “Just play it out, maybe we throw in a ‘golden goal’ or something.”
And Hardwick concurred: “I’m (pro) golden goal as well. I just like it, just keep it going, no siren goes until the next golden goal.”
But Lyon wouldn’t get on board, citing potential weather effects at particular venues.
“Overreaction,” he said. “It would be cool, but it can’t work. Because it would work at Marvel Stadium and that’s about it.
“You imagine down in Tassie, if that game was down there and it was a howling breeze, and they’d kicked six goals to nine in the last quarter and Damien Hardwick’s kicking into the breeze and they go ‘golden goal’ — he’s not putting his hand up for golden goal on the back of that.”
Verdict: Overreaction
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IS THE LENGTH OF THE GAME TOO LONG?
Following GWS chief executive Dave Matthews’ recent call that game-time needs to be shortened, Whateley said: “This is not a question, this is a statement.
“It is getting ridiculous, (games are) two-and-a-half minutes longer this year than last year. There is a project to be done here. Before you hack into game time, there is a project to be done.”
In 2024, on average, a match went for 125 minutes and 11 seconds. In 2025, it’s currently 127:41.
“They’re really interesting numbers,” Whateley added. “Do the project, do the work.”
Verdict: Real
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