Sydney Swans leader Callum Mills admits the new AFL rule changes will have a big impact on the way football is played in 2021 but says the playing group will not shy away from the challenge of playing to new structures.
The AFL implemented a number of rule changes for the new campaign, which includes a maximum number of total interchanges per match (75), the mark location for kick ins changing to 15m from 10m, and minimal lateral movement for players standing on the mark.
While they will all have their own respective influence on how the game will be played this season, Mills believes the changes for the defending players on the mark may prove the most significant.
“There’s a few rule changes that we have been working on, the (changes to the) man on the mark is a big one and I think it will change how the game is played, along with the kick in rule,” Mills said.
“These are little tweaks that we will work around and hopefully it will make the game better.”
The club is no stranger to embracing challenges given the unpredictable nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw all AFL clubs forced into a hub for six weeks of last year’s season.
Mills says there will be no hesitation in doing it all again if the opportunity presented itself.
“You can work off your past experiences and we had a really good hub experience last time. If that’s what needed to run the competition against then we’re happy to do that,” he said.
“You obviously learn from your mistakes and from what you did right and wrong in the hub last year and if it comes to it, we’re happy to do whatever we can to keep the game running.”
Mills is entering his sixth season with the Swans since he was drafted in 2015 and is currently part of the club’s leadership group.
Having become a core part of the Swans’ team with 92 appearances, the 23-year-old praised the current group of leaders at the club and is hopeful it can resonate into on-field success in 2021.
“I enjoy that aspect of football, I think we have a really good depth of leaders at the club which is exciting and have some more young guys coming through as well,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to this year and hopefully we will see some good results on the field.”
