AFL legend Leigh Matthew has slammed those criticising the league's recent rule changes, calling them "flat-Earthers".
This week the AFL announced a raft of rule changes.
Interchange rotations have been slashed once again to just 75, down from 90 during the 2020 season, while the man on the mark will be now 15 metres from the centre of the kick-off line for kick-ins, up from 10 metres this year.
Umpires will be stricter on lateral movement of players standing on the mark, with a 50-metre penalty to be imposed on players who move outside a one metre "level of tolerance" laterally off the mark before play on is called.
They will also trial a radical zone system in second-tier competitions after resisting such a drastic change for the 2021 season.
The zone system will be trialled in the newly-formed VFL and East Coast second-tier competition, with three players from each team to be inside each 50m arc for all kick-ins and throw-ins.
While some AFL players and media have been critical of the changes, Matthews praised the league's attempt to "rescue" the game.
"The flat-Earthers are the people that don't want change," Matthews told News Corp.
"What they refuse to see is that the game is being changed by the coaching staff and all the AFL as custodians of the game are trying to do is rescue it from being kidnapped.
"I've got full confidence that Steve Hocking and his AFL crew will do their job as custodians of the game and try to make it the best possible spectacle."
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Matthew said modern coaching tactics have stalled the flow and excitement of the game in recent years and the "spectacle" has been lost, despite the players being better.
"The best thing that has happened to football in my opinion in the last couple of years is the 6-6-6 formation at centre bounces," Matthews said.
"The game has got a terrific look at centre bounces when players are spread pretty much from end to end and I think the game is better if players are spread from end-to-end more often.
"I think the AFL knows this, but how do you make it happen because you can't make it voluntary because coaches coach to win games of footy. Coaches aren't coaching for the spectacle of the game.
"Basically making spread of the players mandatory is the ultimate solution to the objective of allowing more time and space for attacking flow.
"The (VFL) competition is largely a reserves competition I think, so you have got to trial it somewhere, but at least it gives it a look at something under match conditions, which I think is a good thing."
Matthews was not as convinced about the interchange rule changes however.
"I am unsure whether the reduction of interchange will make a whole lot of difference, certainly 90 to 75 won't," Matthews said.
"But I understand the principle that even if you say we are going to take the interchange right back to 30 or 40, you've probably got to do it over two or three years. I understand that principle, just to let everyone adjust to that.
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"Some people say if you brought interchange back to 30-odd that would solve the problem… but I'm not convinced it would solve the problem.
"The objective is clear, reduce congestion, increase attacking flow, what methods you employ that contribute to that is more a question than an answer. That's the conundrum."
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