Two practice match incidents in the AAMI Community Series are set to be flashpoints for changes to the ruck rules this year.

A Shannon Neale injury and Brodie Grundy free kick have validated criticism about new rules which will change the way ruck contests look.

Swans All-Australian ruck Grundy feigned to jump into opponent Nick Madden in a practice match on Thursday. Instead, Grundy held his ground as Madden committed, expecting to jump into his opponent, with the young Giant ultimately giving away a free kick for crossing the centre line. 

It was such a glaring loophole, you'd be surprised if the AFL doesn't take a long, hard look at the vision.

One X user summised the chorus of criticism succinctly: ‘Game's gone'. 

Ruck rule change explained

At all centre ball-ups, competing rucks will now be unable to cross the centre line before engaging with their opposition ruck. This is born from a desire to see the jumping rucks return to the game.

The AFL has said this rule would not have been possible without the end of the 'centre bounce', as opposed to the 'centre ball-up', due to the variables of which direction the ball can go from a bounce. The ball-up also gives the umpire extra time and ability to assess where the ruck is stationed when he engages his opponent.

The rule change was branded as a panacea for boring predictability at centre stoppages.

So far, it has led to technical free kicks being adjudicated, with Reilly O'Brien one of several rucks who was concerned about the "greyness" early in pre-season.

But previous rule changes would suggest players adjust quickly and the current confusion is merely due to teething issues as the industry adapts.

Former Port Adelaide star Matthew Primus, arguably the best ruck of the late 1990s and early 2000s, is concerned that the balance could be skewed too far towards a certain type of player.

"There's craft to your position and ruck craft isn't just jumping the highest - you have to learn to jump into guys, use your arm to fend and hit the ball so I know they want two guys to jump in the middle of the circle, but it doesn't always work that way," Primus told Zero Hanger.

"Hopefully there is balance and it doesn't make it easier for one type of player to dominate another type of player because that's not our game."

Meanwhile, Neale's injury after clashing with a direct opponent's knee in a ruck contest is what many have been screaming for years amid a push for ball-ups to replace centre bounces after it had been an issue in Primus' era. The AFL made moves to protect against PCL injuries in 2004.

"Hopefully, if they're up vertical and not in, that could maybe prevent the PCL — because that's the one we're probably worried about," Carlton backline coach Ash Hansen said after Neale's clash with Marc Pittonet.

Ball-ups provide clear benefits for whistle blowers, given the physical strain of the bounce has prevented some from pursuing an umpiring a career or reaching higher levels has dwindled the pool of adjudicators at a time where the game is desperate for umpiring stability.

But the predictability of where the ball will go was always going to elevate the risk of contact injuries.

"I always was a fan of the bounce because it creates unpredictability for the rucks and also, you might have a set play, but the ball stops and bounces over your opponent's head so then you just hit it forward," 268-game former Fremantle and Melbourne ruck Jeff White told Zero Hanger.

"By knowing where the ball will go as a ruck it becomes even more important for them to understand their opposition and the angles to hit them at, and how do you combat them?

"So you've got to do your homework because it's a fixed spot now. You're removing a layer of unpredictability."

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An issue with the ruck rule change raised to Zero Hanger by one source was the unanticipated immediacy of the new rule.

By rewarding jumpers, the rule change causes a fundamental shift in the skillset of rucks.

Would Fremantle have signed Sean Darcy long term if it was aware of an impending rule change set to nullify his greatest asset?

Would clubs that drafted young rucks three to five years ago envisaging the position becoming increasingly combative - as has occurred - had made the same drafting decision if they were aware such a significant rule change was imminent?
Rucks take the longer to develop than any other position so require the most foresight and at the eleventh hour, the goalposts have been unfairly shifted.

Those in favour of the change will point to the recent premiers as evidence of the dwindling importance of ruck craft.

Oscar McInerney, Darcy Fort, Rhys Stanley are all lionhearted competitors, but none will go down as among the generation's best. 

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Brisbane and Geelong have established themselves as the teams of the 2020s so far with clinical midfield groups that have been able to prosper with only serviceable rucks.

It's prompted clubs to increasingly follow the model of Chris Scott, who has moulded the Cats into the most consistent team of the past 15 years without a synonymous ruck. 

Ruck advocates, such as White, concerned about the future of the position without league intervention.

Nic Naitanui was appointment viewing in his prime given his dynamic leap at centre bounces.

Yet in 2025, there was just 21 per cent of centre stoppages where at least one ruck jumped - down from 63 per cent two years ago - as players instead wrestled, leading to congestion.

"If you have a dominant ruck, you can put opponents on the back foot now," White noted.

"It becomes unpredictable and exciting so I'm looking forward to it. The ones who burst out of the centre will benefit like Nick Daicos, Marcus Bontempelli, Ed Richards, Hayden Young will become even more important.

"But don't underestimate decoys. I love that the art will come back to it. Nick Daicos might go, so then opposition go with him, and all of a sudden it lands in Pendlebury's hands. There will be a lot of dynamic stuff, decoys, blocks and run-throughs.

"I love that the AFL has brought this back rather than six midfielders going to a spot in a small area. It makes players more proactive and on the run so they can attack opposition on the ruck."

The change will reward teams that are able to get first hands on the footy, with the greater variety of hit zones likely to open up centre stoppages, thus providing more space for players to burst forward and get momentum going towards their goals. 

Interestingly, Carlton, North Melbourne, Gold Coast and Brisbane led first possession rates last year, while Western Bulldogs, the Suns, Lions and Adelaide led first possession to clearance percentages.

Primus currently coaches VFL side Southport, which possesses arguably the most dominant VFL ruck in the competition, Brayden Crossley.

"Probably does a little bit, yeah," Primus said when asked if it would change the way coaches set up stoppages.

"It depends on your ruck. If you have rucks that can only hit it in a certain area because of the new rules, that will change how you setup.

"I think everyone will wait and see how it's umpired in the first two or three weeks and then make adjustments.

"I don't think it will make it more exciting - clubs might have in the past been able to come out the front of the stoppage but now need to find other ways to get on top but they're very good at coming up at things on the run."

White believes that generational ruck Max Gawn will remain the dominant big man in the league, pointing not only to the ruck rule changes, but also the lasso rule, believing that it will reward Gawn's pre-eminent off the ball running.

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While it may only be enforced a handful of times per game, the potential speed and potency of those plays will encourage rucks to not let opponents get goal-side.

Yet Gawn has been a critic of the change, believing, like Primus, it is an overcorrection that endangers ruck craft and is too slanted towards a certain type of player.

"I agree wrestling is not the best look, but AFL is famously a game that caters for all shapes and sizes," Gawn said.

"If we just say we don't want wrestlers and we only want people who can jump, I feel like that doesn't cater for all shapes and sizes.

"I'm glad (the AFL) are thinking about rucks and thinking about trying to get the best product going forward, but hopefully there's a bit more tinkering with this exact rule.

"Did I think it was necessary? I felt like we were self-correcting a little bit at the back-end of the year."

Draft patterns highlight that clubs are prioritising other positions on the ground, with clean-skilled halfbacks and dynamic small forwards rising in prominence.

Of first choice rucks in 2026, only three were taken with top 30 picks - Brodie Grundy, Tim English and Tom De Koning.

It's arguable that not a single ruck was selected at last year's National Draft. Cooper Duff-Tytler, Zac McCarthy and Louis Emmett all played ruck in the talent pathway, but none are certain to play the position at the top level.

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All-Australian U18s ruck Sam Ainsworth and AFL Academy member Taj Murray received only mild draft interest, while leading Victorian ruck Marcus Krasnadamskis also missed out, with the many clubs interested but using their open list spots on other positions. 

Clubs being reluctant to draft teenaged rucks is not new, and the phenomenon was accentuated by the re-introduction of the Mid-Season Draft in 2019.

The May intake enables youngsters to spend an extra six months developing at under-18s level as an "overaged" player, giving clubs more data before needing to make a decision. Clay Tucker and Iliro Smit have been among the beneficiaries. 

But clubs are also increasingly favouring taking mature-aged rucks because the juice is not worth the squeeze.

Developing a player within an AFL environment for years to play the most unglamorous position isn't worthwhile.

It's akin to completing a renovation and maxing out the budget on your laundry rather than the living space.

Tom De Koning, Ned Moyle, Lachie Blakiston and Lachie McAndrew are among the rucks expected to benefit most from the change.

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While it plays into their hands due to their athleticism, of equal importance will be their ability to access different parts of the stoppage with their taps.

Where in the past, players could have got away with similar taps going to different parts of the stoppage due to the natural variety of the bounce, the predictability of the bounce this year will further reward those with 'creativity'.

"The athletic rucks have gone from being not in a position to use creativity in the last couple of years to having an advantage in the air by having different taps through the strength of their wrists and forearms to push the ball in different spots," White said.

"If you can hit it to 2 O'Clock, work on hitting it to 6 O'Clock or 10 O'Clock. Once clubs see you push it here and there, they will start doing things to nullify that. "

With the rule encouraging leapers rather than combatants, O'Brien, Jarrod Witts, Toby Nankervis and Tristan Xerri and Sean Darcy are those that many in the industry expect to struggle more than previously.

White said that there remains an opportunity for those players to remain competitive despite the change.

"Non-athletic rucks who don't feel like they can jump over an opponent need to jump across the line," said White, who made a career from leaping.

"When I was playing, it was the ones who wouldn't try to out-jump me, but they could jump across the line, get me on different lines and try to jump through me that would be most difficult.

"You have to do your homework, and by doing this it's not boring and stock-standard around the ground.

"Rucks have to do their homework and understand their strengths and weaknesses and it will therefore offer up different hit-zones.

"With the old rule, it went to one area and was boring, so I think you're going to see a lot of exciting set plays out of the front of the centre square."

Moyle, who is widely considered the best ruck in the AFL not getting a regular senior game, said the leap was part of the excitement of the centre stoppage that fans can expect to be rekindled.

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"Overall I think the rules are a good change, you lost a bit of that fun of the big jump in the middle and I think that's a good spectacle for the game so it's good to have that," Moyle told Zero Hanger.

"When I first started, it was a lot more centred on jumping at centre bounce, and timing and contact, and over the last two years it died away because you're able to keep a straight arm and cross the line as soon as the ball went up.

"You became dictated to by that. The rule change should bring back good ruck craft in the centre bounce.

"People want to see the jumping and big clash in the middle rather than meeting in the middle and wrestling which you get a lot of throughout the game anyway so it'll be good to bring that back."

But if that "big clash" increases injury risk and jeopardises the essence of the ruck contest, is the juice worth the squeeze?

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