Informal meetings between AFL coaches and senior executives could become a regular occurrence, according to Geelong coach Chris Scott.
Scott said the get-togethers could happen “a few times a year” after a successful initiation on Monday night.
“If nothing else it was a good starting point and something that everyone involved was keen to see happen again,” he said.
“I would think that if we didn’t do it at least a few times a year in the future I’d be very surprised.”
Scott said the “big picture” discussions covered topics such as the aesthetics of the game, challenges it faced and how coaches impacted those issues.
“It was overwhelmingly positive. There was no strict agenda, it was more a matter of talking about where the game’s at, what some of the challenges we’re facing are and how we can collaborate to meet some of those challenges,” he said.
“There was a little bit about the state of the game and the way it’s changed and there were some really good suggestions thrown up as to how maybe we can improve the way the game looks aesthetically, but also some of the challenges more broadly, making sure we build attendances and make the game more attractive to people that haven’t seen much of our game before.
“The coaches don’t want to control the game. I don’t think they even want to drive the direction of the game necessarily, they just want to be available to add their expertise where required.
“I think it’s the subtext to a lot of things that we talk about when we bring the game up and I don’t think many people with a real interest in the game have a desire to see the game played in an ugly way.
“I understand that everyone probably thinks that coaches would like to win irrespective of how the game looks but I’m not as convinced by that. I think there are ways to achieve both.”
