from the late 60's would follow the Tigers in the VFL on Saturday and Preston in the VFA on Sunday
the VFA 16 a man sides , I recall having it explained , that the VFA grounds , as a rule were smaller and it was the driving force for that
also noting the old fashioned grounds had poor drainage and once wet would be a bog for weeks , looking back , the reduced numbers were good for the VFA
with the rule changes , players and coaches lay awake at night trying to dream up ways to beat the opposition
Kevin Bartlett throwing the ball out in front to get holding the man frees , might have been the start of the rule changes to get the right look for the game
when the interchange first came in , Geelong West in the VFA came up wit the idea . have a ruckman contest a centre bounce
have a one interchange player in the forward pocket and other in the back pocket , the ruck would run off the ground ,a trainer would wave a towel to signify he was off the ground , and depending which way the ball went they push an interchange player on and get the out number
yeah that wasn't a good look , after a few games a quick rule change happened
John Kennedy coach of the Hawks , Glenferrie era , he had Peter Hudson , a champion full forward , idea , everyone bar full forward and full back into the centre bounce , it turned the game into a rugby match
the resposne was a centre diamond , the points of the diamond almost touched the boundary at Glenferrie , so year two it became a centre square
those things were a good look for the game and rules changes were good for preserving the integrity of the contest
the stand rule however was an exercise in dishonesty