Pic exposes AFL rule tweak that’ll change game; ‘significantly better’ Swans set to soar — Talking Points from match sims

Our first look at footy in 2026 exposed what the rule changes will mean, while building hype around the healthier Swans, exciting relatives at Melbourne and young guns galore.

Foxfooty.com.au looks at some of the biggest issues from the nine match simulations in AFL Talking Points!

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TWO BIG RULE TWEAKS, ONE BIG DEFINING SEASON FOR BIGS

The 2026 season looms as a defining one for the game’s tallest players.

For a couple of key AFL tweaks could break some rucks – and make some others.

One of the most significant changes for the 2026 AFL season is the scrapping of the sub rule, which will allow teams to have five players on the bench for matches.

Early industry speculation suggested the tweak could favour rucks as clubs now would be more prepared to play two talls in the same 23-man team.

On Monday, the Hawks had a close look at Lloyd Meek and Ned Reeves in the same team with an even ruck-forward split against Geelong. It’s something the team has done consistently over the summer during internal match play.

After Meek and Reeves played 14 games together in 2023, the duo weren’t picked in the same side for any matches in the past two seasons. Meek (46 games) was the preferred ruck over Reeves (5 games), with Mabior Chol pinch-hitting to relieve Meek in-game.

Hawks assistant David Hale was noncommittal about whether the Hawks planned to play both rucks in the same side come the home and away season.

“I think who you play in that fifth role will evolve as the year goes on, whether teams use an extra runner or an extra ruckman, as we saw.,” Hale told reporters.

“Both of those guys have had a good summer. I think the centre bounce rule obviously helps ‘Noodle’ (Reeves) in terms of his height, I think he got his hands around the ball well today, but Meeky’s had a good couple of years as well.

“Both of those guys bring different things to the table and we think that those guys for us can be advantageous going forward, whether playing together or separately.”

At the Suns, Ned Moyle has barely got a look in for several years, consistently stuck behind the reliable Jarrod Witts. But on Thursday night against St Kilda, Witts and Moyle shared the Suns’ ruck load in a potential sign of things to come.

The Giants, too, would be tempted to play both Kieren Briggs and the emerging Nick Madden in the same side after their strong showings forward of centre against Collingwood on Friday. Briggs booted four goals and Madden added three majors, giving the Giants ample to consider ahead of Opening Round.

Carlton had a look at both Marc Pittonet and recruit Liam Reidy in the same side, while Adelaide trialled Lachlan McAndrew and Toby Murray against the Power.

As noted by dual premiership Crows skipper Mark Bickley during the Kayo Sports broadcast, Adelaide appears keen to pick Murray, which would ensure imposing forward Riley Thilthorpe can remain closer to goal.

“It’s interesting Riley Thilthorpe did a lot of the ruck work last year as a second ruck,” Bickley told Kayo Sports.

“Got a feeling they don’t really want him in the ruck – they want him dominating in the front half of the ground.

“Toby Murray might get a bit of a look this year – particularly with the extra interchange player where you can play an extra tall.

“I’ve got a feeling they’d love Murray who’s got a bit of forward craft as well, to have the ability to play forward but also come on and be that second ruckman.

“On days like today when Riley Thilthorpe is catching it and looking really dangerous, you don’t want him in the ruck. You want him 20m out from goal marking them and kicking goals.

“That’s the flexibility that Toby Murray offers.”

St Kilda on Thursday night unleashed star recruit Tom De Koning alongside Rowan Marshall for the first time.

Marshall wanted a move to Geelong once the Saints made De Koning their No. 1 free agency target – only for the move to fall over in trade week – but the Saints remained adamant a De Koning-Marshall partnership could work.

And while neither totally dominated, De Koning had some eye-catching moments and Marshall booted the first goal of the game after taking a strong mark close to goal.

“I thought it was a really good step for him (De Koning) to build some chemistry with his midfielders,” Saints football boss Lenny Hayes said post-match.

“He and Rowan worked well together and they’ve been building that over the last four to six weeks. It was pleasing, but we’re not getting too carried away there.”

De Koning, too, looks like a player who’ll benefit from the new ruck rules.

Rucks in 2026 are now unable to cross the centre line before engaging with their opposition ruck. This is because Greg Swann and the AFL want to see the jumping rucks return to the game.

Melbourne skipper Max Gawn – an eight-time All-Australian ruck – conceded after AFL Origin he might have to adjust his rucking style.

“I think some of the guys who can jump are really going to excel and some of the older guys, like me, are potentially going to have to come up a different way,” Gawn told Fox Footy.

“There’s a few guys like myself, Jarrod Witts, Reilly O’Brien, Darcy Cameron, Darcy Fort – some guys who have been around for a while who don’t necessarily jump as high as Tom De Koning. So we’ve got to come up with something.”

One example from match simulation was in the Essendon-Richmond match sim. With Nick Bryan sidelined with injury, Lachy Blakiston was the Bombers’ No.1 ruck – and he looked comfortable against Tigers skipper Toby Nankervis, using the new rules to his advantage with his athleticism, despite being somewhat undersized.

It’ll be fascinating to see how dual All-Australian Brodie Grundy – a follow-up ruck, rather than a jumper – fares this season.

“He (Grundy) certainly made the most of the previous rule of being able to come across the line,” Swans assistant Ben Matthews said on Thursday.

“I thought he played a really strong game (against the Bulldogs). Forever in a day, his strength has been his scramble work – how he gets after the ball when it hits the deck – that won’t change. And he’s been jumping well against Pete Ladhams and young ‘Greeny’ (William Green) at training.

“He’s a very good player, Brodie, and he’s adapted to what the game has thrown up at him – and I feel like he’ll adapt again. Maybe a little less influential from a first hit-out point of view, but we’ll see. As long as he can halve that contest and get the ball on the ground, he becomes a real weapon for us as an extra mid.

“Brodie is a great pro who studies the game and works tirelessly with Mike Pyke our ruck coach, so we expect him to adapt really strongly.”

PAIR OF PICKETTS: FOOTY’S MOST EXCITING FAMILY DUO IN YEARS

Melbourne assistant coach Troy Chaplin could only smile post-game when the inevitable Latrelle Pickett question came.

Pickett and cousin Kysaiah Pickett were all the buzz after the Demons’ match simulation demolition of North Melbourne.

But the reality is it’s been hard for the club across the past few months to keep the cousin pairing’s tantalising potential under wraps.

“Oh yeah, he’s looked good. He’s looked as good as that,” Chaplin cheekily told reporters when asked about Latrelle’s pre-season. “We’ve known what he’s capable of.

“With him and Kozzy, it’s going to be pretty good viewing for our supporters.”

Kysaiah is entering just his seventh AFL season, while Latrelle has only been on Melbourne’s list for three months.

But after the duo’s performance on Friday, it’s genuinely hard to think of a more electrifying family combination at the same club since Peter and Shaun Burgoyne dominated together during the Port Adelaide golden years.

Latrelle, 20, showed ample promise with several brilliant moments – most notably a stunning five-bounce run from half-back in the third term that ended in a selfless pass inside 50 to Jacob van Rooyen. He also teamed up with cousin Kysaiah on multiple occasions in what would’ve been a thrilling sight for Dees fans.

Despite being taken in November’s national with Pick 12, Latrelle looks like a massive chance for a Round 1 debut.

“Latrelle is very mature for his age,” Chaplin said. “He’s got a good story, he’s had to work hard for it.

“We’ve got really high hopes of what he can produce. When you talk to him, he wants to be Latrelle Pickett – he doesn’t want to live in Kozzy’s shadow and that’s the exciting thing.

“He did some really good things today. He’s still got some great growth as well, but that’s the exciting bit about it.”

Meanwhile, Kysaiah lit up the match simulation with five goals. For most of the game, he was a level above anyone else on the ground.

After his maiden All-Australian selection in 2025, Pickett showed even more glitz as he tore through the midfield.

“He’s a special talent. We’re only scratching the surface,” Chaplin said.

“He showed he could play a little bit of midfield last year playing that mid-forward role. He played a little bit of that (on Friday) and a bit more midfield.

“We’re excited because we could put Kozzy wherever we need to put him and it’s not going to affect our system or the way we set up.

“There’s no ceiling on what he can do – that’s the exciting bit. We’ve just got to make sure we keep being consistent with him and that’s what he’s starting to do.”

Asked if there’d ever been moments where Demons coaches just sat back and marvelled at the talent of the Picketts, Chaplin smiled and said: “Yeah absolutely.

“Well for one I wanted Latrelle to finish that goal when he had five bounces, but his composure to find a teammate … it also shows it’s not just about him. His willingness to bring his teammates into the game is fantastic and it shows how measured he is at a young age. We’re excited by what he can produce.

“We know what Kozzy is going to do. I think he kicked 5.2 today – not bad!”

As the younger, new-look Demons prepare for a potentially tough initiation under new coach Steven King in 2026, the new Pickett pairing arrival is ideal timing.

NORTH ON WATCH AFTER ‘UNFLATTERING’ LOSS

While the Picketts dazzled for the Demons, North Melbourne’s performance would’ve been a jarring experience for its fans.

It was only a February match simulation, so setting off the alarm bells now would be premature.

At the same time, you could sense the Roos’ frustration post-game, with assistant coach Michael Barlow dubbing the 80-point loss as “unflattering and disappointing”.

They were blown away in the middle and couldn’t match the Demons’ more exciting play style.

The final quarter was a blowout as Melbourne put their foot down with six goals to one.

Barlow said it took the Roos “a bit of time to get going”, adding they struggled to contain Dees once the footy was in open space due to subpar workrate.

“Q2 and Q3 OK and then probably playing behind for a lot of the day, fatigue – yeah. Q4 took us a way a little bit from where we want to be,” Barlow told reporters.

“But at the same time – and we had a really good discussion as a group just before around having real belief and confidence in what we’ve been able to do in the last few months and the back-end of last year – we have the faith and things will be OK. We’ll get another opportunity to butter up next week.”

After six consecutive bottom-three finishes, North has indicated it’s ready to make genuine inroads and challenge for finals.

But the Roos failed to throw many punches on Friday. Ultimately, they have the youngest and third-least experienced list in the competition.

“You’ve got to go work on what you can learn, both individually and collectively,” Barlow said. “We’re not a side, at this point in time, that can take mulligans.

“We acknowledge we’re better than that and I’m on the front foot saying we’re better than how we performed across the 120 minutes tonight. But at the same time, individuals will go to work with their coach throughout the week on what to improve.

“Collectively, we won’t waiver from what we’ve trained, what we’ve coached and educated for pretty much the three months of pre-season, but also the back-end of last year where we made some growth.”

‘SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER’: OMINOUS WARNING AS ‘SWANS SURGE’ LOOMS

Swans assistant Ben Matthews barely hesitated.

This time last year, Sydney seemed significantly underprepared for its 2025 campaign.

After reaching the ultimate stage in 2024 – only to suffer a humiliating Grand Final loss to Brisbane – a shock coaching change took place in November, with coach John Longmire quitting after 14 seasons and handing the reins to assistant Dean Cox.

Then came a significant early-season injury toll, with the likes of Callum Mills, Errol Gulden, Tom Papley and Harry Cunningham all missing half a season. Elsewhere, Joel Amartey managed just eight games and Logan McDonald didn’t get on the park at all.

Sydney’s 2025 campaign essentially ended in Round 12 when it suffered a horror 90-point loss to Adelaide, which saw Cox’s side sink to 4-8. And while the Swans finished their 2025 campaign with an impressive surge – winning eight of their final 11 games – they left their run too late.

But it’s a different build-up for the Swans this year.

Asked how much more prepared Sydney is for 2026 compared to 12 months ago, assistant coach Matthews said: “Significantly better prepared.

“There’s no doubt from an injury point of view last pre-season, we didn’t get a great run of having our top 25 to 30 out on the park consistently throughout pre-season. That’s certainly been a change having most of our top 30 on the park, training most weeks and most main sessions, building their chemistry – it’s a big advantage.

“Hopefully that comes across in our game style, but also our connection with each other.”

It certainly came across on Thursday afternoon during the Swans’ slick match simulation showing against the Western Bulldogs – especially with how they moved the ball.

We’ve watched the Giants build a sustainable brand of footy around a ‘tsunami’ style of transition play — and the Swans might have their own iteration brewing.

Premiership Swan and triple All-Australian Dan Hannebery had the inside word on a tinkered Swans ball movement approach this year.

“Looking at some of their training and speaking to a few insiders, I think they’re going to want to try and create more speed on the ball out of the back half,” Hannebery told Kayo Sports.

“We’ve seen the Giants’ tsunami — it’s almost going to be a ‘Swans Surge’ this year, I believe.

“They’re going to try the high handball and give Curnow and co. a bit of a chance.”

And the Swans were able to move the ball with relative ease against the Dogs, despite what was a high-intensity contest early on at Whitten Oval.

After getting possession, they looked to move it on as quickly as possible, including switching the play at almost every opportunity.

“They are looking to switch the ball at all costs, which is great to see, and it’s going to create a lot of opportunities up forward,” Hannebery noted in the third quarter.

One player who’ll significantly help with implementing a Swans Surge style is Gulden, who was humming with confidence and energy on Thursday as he cut up the Dogs with his transition dash

Gulden just under 12 months ago suffered a fractured ankle in a pre-season clash against the Suns – an injury that wiped out the first half of his 2025 campaign.

“There’s no doubt it impacted our team last year when he wasn’t there for the first half of the season,” Matthews said.

“Hopefully having Errol and Isaac (Heeney) and Chad (Warner) building their chemistry … having good players on the park is a definite advantage and helps other players around them

“But we feel like not just Errol’s improved, but other players have improved around the team. It’s hopefully a good position for us to be in and some headaches at selection as well.”

Gulden hit up star recruit Charlie Curnow several times throughout the match in an exciting glimpse of what’s to come in 2026. The dual Coleman Medallist cruised to four majors against the Bulldogs, getting free inside 50 on several occasions with relative ease.

For Matthews, Curnow’s chemistry with fellow tall forward McDonald – who also slotted four goals – was just as noteworthy.

“Jeremy Laidler our forwards coach has done a hell of a lot of work on their synergy and movement patterns over the pre-season,” Matthews said.

“Obviously we started pre-season a little bit earlier, having not made finals last year, so we’ve had a good period of time out there and those players working together, which has been fantastic for them.

“We’ve done a hell of a lot of drills, which has focused on their connection. It’s always pleasing when it comes together. The Dogs were missing a few today, so you take that for what it is. But from our point of view, we were really happy with their synergy.”

JAGGA, LALOR LOOKING TO BOUNCE BACK

While 2024 draftees like Levi Ashcroft, Murphy Reid, Isaac Kako and Harvey Langford all impressed with ample senior exposure in their debut AFL seasons last year, the footy world missed out on arguably the two best prospects from the class.

Carlton’s Jagga Smith (Pick 3) wasn’t seen at all after a match simulation ACL rupture, while Richmond’s Sam Lalor (Pick 1) managed just 10 full games (11 overall) due to injury.

But both last week showed their 2026 potential against Brisbane and Essendon respectively.

We were looking for flashes of Smith’s brilliance in the Blues-Lions clash – and we certainly saw them. Mere seconds after lining up at his first centre ball-up, Smith pushed forward, received a handball and nailed a long-range goal just minutes into the game.

The 20-year-old was strong in transition and active and clean at ground level, giving hungry Blues fans a tantalising taste of what’s to come.

Blues assistant Josh Fraser said Smith played a “terrific” game.

“The way he connects with the midfield – having missed a lot of football – and the synergy he brings with them, his composure with the ball in-hand and moving the ball inside 50 as well, he’s going to be a terrific player,” Fraser told reporters.

“He’s so determined, he takes a lot of pride in his performance and he wants to win. For him to get out there and get through and show some encouraging signs, it’s a great step for him.”

Lalor against Essendon was tantalising in the early stages, rising to mark inside 50, having drifted forward from the centre ball-up.

“I actually didn’t see it (the mark)”, Tigers assistant coach Jack Ziebell said with a smile post-game. “I was turning around talking to someone but he came off the ground and told me about it pretty quick.”

The former No.1 pick was clean and comfortable in possession, attending many centre ball-ups. Most importantly, he got through unscathed in what has been a careful yet complete pre-season for the young star after hamstring issues hampered his debut campaign.

With the way he moved, played and looked against the Bombers – while wearing the No.4 jumper – it was hard not to be reminded of a young Dustin Martin.

“We know Sam’s a really talented player. He’s had a really impressive summer,” Ziebell said.

“As a junior, he really didn’t get to do any pre-seasons. So where he’s come from to where he’s hopefully going to be, this is a really important summer for him and he’s done everything we’ve asked of him so far.

“He was one on managed minutes today. He got through that really well … He’s going to be really important for us going forward.”

AND A WORD ON ELIJAH TSATAS

Eyebrows were raised on Thursday when Elijah Tsatas was left out of the Bombers’ match simulation squad against Richmond.

After all, it’s been a tough first three AFL seasons for Tsatas, managing just 16 games due to a combination of injury and form after being taken with Pick 5 in the 2022 draft.

But Essendon assistant Ben Jacobs insisted playing Tsatas in the VFL scratch match on Friday was the best choice considering hi circumstances.

“‘Lij’ is playing a full game now,” Jacobs told reporters minutes after the Bombers’ big match simulation win over Richmond.

“He came off limited prep. He had some soreness probably two or three weeks ago so he’s been compromised in terms of his prep, missed a few main sessions, played half a game last week – and with eight on the bench (against Richmond), his minutes would’ve been compromised.

“So let him have full minutes in the VFL.”

Asked what the Bombers wanted to see from Tsatas this year, Jacobs said: “I think he’s built his midfield craft well in terms of his stoppage – he’s a stoppage beast – and like Archie Roberts, these young guys are building a base of being able to run at the level. So I’m excited to see his ground coverage now.”