Centre bounce and sub rule scrapped for 2026 as league announces major changes

The centre bounce is dead and one of the AFL coaching fraternity’s biggest pet peeves is no more after the AFL announced two key changes for the 2026 season.

The league on Wednesday morning confirmed two changes had been made to the Laws of Australian Football and AFL Regulations, with both the centre bounce and substitute to be discontinued for next season.

The removal of the sub means clubs will now name 23-player line-ups, with interchange benches to feature five players from next season.

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And the scrapping of the centre bounce means AFL matches will now recommence via a throw-up after goals and at the start of quarters.

A rule change in 2013 saw the ball bounced only in the centre square then thrown up elsewhere on the ground. Now it has been scrapped altogether.

Greg Swann, the AFL’s new executive general manager of football performance, said the centre bounce, which has been a trademark of the game for decades, was removed after carefully considering several factors. He said the game would benefit in many ways.

“The centre bounce has long been a part of Australian Football tradition, but as the game has evolved, there are several areas which will benefit from allowing umpires to simply throw the ball up at the restart,” Swann said.

“Currently, umpire pathways are being narrowed by the requirement of the bounce. It is a difficult skill to execute, and we believe is preventing some of our best umpiring prospects from progressing any further in the AFL pathway despite having elite decision-making skills.

“By removing the skill aspect of bouncing the ball, umpires can focus their energy on adjudicating the game and consistency of decision making.

“We also anticipate this decision will be safer for umpires and players at the contest and lessen the likelihood of umpire contact at the restart.

“The removal of the bounce we predict will also have a positive impact in the reduction of game length and produce a cleaner and fairer ruck contest, two areas we have been monitoring for the past two seasons.

“Additionally, it will also create consistency across national competitions.”

The removal of the sub comes four days after Geelong coach Chris Scott declared he’d be “rapt to see the back of the sub rule” after navigating an superstar Jeremy Cameron’s injury in the Cats’ heavy Grand Final loss to Brisbane.

Both Scott and Hawthorn counterpart Sam Mitchell in July intimated on Fox Footy’s AFL 360 that all 18 coaches would be in favour of removing the sub rule.

Swann also confirmed the removal of the sub would lead to an extended, five-player interchange bench, but the same rotation restrictions would remain.

“We have listened to the feedback from players, the Clubs and the AFLPA to remove the substitute in favour of a fifth interchange player with rotations to remain the same,” he said.

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