Last disposal out of bounds rule; Rory Sloane and Eddie McGuire weigh in, Sam Mitchell comments

Support for the AFL to introduce a last disposal out of bounds rule in 2026 is growing, with Rory Sloane the latest to back a radical shift to the laws of the game.

If it is introduced, the change will see teams penalised if their kick or handball goes out of bounds, but only between the arcs.

The rule already exists in both the AFLW competition and South Australia's state league, the SANFL.

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The idea is the change will remove subjectivity surrounding insufficient intent penalties and reduce overall game length by cutting stoppages.

Boundary throw-ins will still occur, but only when the ball is taken over the line by a player or spoiled or tapped over.

Former Adelaide captain Sloane is a big fan of the tweak.

"It (improved the game) in the SANFL back in 2016. The SANFL was the highest competition in the country for stoppages and since this has been introduced it has become one of the lowest," Sloane told Nine's Footy Classified.

"It used to be the lowest scoring state league across Australia and now it's one of the highest.

"There's been plenty of upside. I know the AFL wants to reduce stoppages because they've been creeping up over the years, so this is one way to reduce stoppages."

Since the rule was introduced to the SANFL for the 2026 season, boundary throw-ins are down 12 per game and ball-ups are down six per game, making it the state league with the fewest stoppages in the country.

It has also improved from one of the lowest scoring leagues in the country to near the highest, though there would be other factors behind this.

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Eighteen fewer stoppages per game means less tap work for ruckmen generally. This will favour those able to impact around the ground and hit the scoreboard.

Former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire does not believe the rule change will abjectly hurt the ruck position.

"People are saying this is going to get rid of ruckmen. I disagree. I think ruckmen down the line to take the mark are going to come into it," he said.

"A decent marking ruckman, they're going to earn a fortune.

"Instead of holding each other (at a boundary throw in) and knocking it straight down."

New AFL head of football Greg Swann doesn't expect the change to have an enormous impact on the game either.

"All these things have to be approved by the commission. But there will be recommendations put forward and that will be one that we adopt," Swann told the AFL Record.

"We do it in AFLW, the SANFL does it, it's between the arcs and it's a kick or a handball.

"The stats show on the games played that there would only be two extra free kicks a game. It's not a big change, but it's a tough call for the umps sometimes and we're almost there anyway."

Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell was more sceptical about the introduction of the rule when asked on Monday night.

"The thing I love about our game is you can be (Nick Watson) and be five-foot-two or you can be Ned Reeves and be seven-foot," Mitchell told Fox Footy.

"Keeping both body shapes and all the body shapes in between in the game is really important.

"So I think it's important that they keep ruckmen in the game and we want all those really tall lads to be playing our game going forward."

Swann also confirmed the substitute rule is likely to be ripped out for the second time, after previously cutting it in 2015.

This will likely see the competition move to a pure five players on the bench model.

The former Brisbane Lions chief was also non-committal on umpires bouncing the ball to start games and after goals, which would be another significant change to ruck craft.

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