The AFL has announced that the centre bounce will be removed from the game in the 2026 season.
An official AFL media release cited the difficulty to execute, physical strain placed on umpires, reduction of game length, and restriction of umpire pathways as reasons that the bounce has been removed.
AFL Executive General Manager of Football Performance Greg Swann said:
“The centre bounce has long been a part of Australian Football tradition, but as the game has evolved, there are several areas which will benefit from allowing umpires to simply throw the ball up at the restart.
Currently, umpire pathways are being narrowed by the requirement of the bounce. It is a difficult skill to execute, and we believe is preventing some of our best umpiring prospects from progressing any further in the AFL pathway despite having elite decision-making skills.
By removing the skill aspect of bouncing the ball, umpires can focus their energy on adjudicating the game and consistency of decision making.
We also anticipate this decision will be safer for umpires and players at the contest and lessen the likelihood of umpire contact at the restart.
The removal of the bounce we predict will also have a positive impact in the reduction of game length and produce a cleaner and fairer ruck contest, two areas we have been monitoring for the past two seasons.
Additionally, it will also create consistency across national competitions.”
Originally, before the bounce, the single central umpire would punch the ball into the ground, sending it hurtling in any direction to begin play.
Now commonly condemned for it’s unpredictability, in it’s infancy, when different values guided the game, the bounce was prized for it’s irregularity.
Becoming common in the 1880s, the bounce became the mandated method of restarting play from 1887, when the rules were formally changed to implement it around the ground and in the centre after a goal is scored.
From 1887 until 2012, umpires bounced the ball all over the ground except for when wet conditions prohibited them from doing so, in which case the ball would be thrown up at stoppages.
Before the introduction of the 10 metre circle in 2005, errant bounces were rarely recalled by the central field umpire. Stray bounces that favoured one team over the other could greatly impact centre-square clearances, as attested to by legendary field umpire Glenn James, whose first bounce of his first senior VFL game in 1977 is preserved in Don Casey’s Blood in their Boots:
“The execution of the bounce was a shocker and the ball shot straight out in front of Glenn towards the wing, was picked up outside the 50 metre square by Denis Collins (Footscray) who passed it straight to his teammate Bernie Quinlan, and he kicked a goal. The whole passage of play had taken about 37 seconds.”
Certainly, no other action by umpires or referees in any other sport compares with the bounce which, when executed properly, is a graceful display of skill and athleticism.
However, the execution of the bounce was not without it’s toll on the body. In particular, the visually spectacular contortions involved in bouncing place strain on the back, shoulders, and hamstrings.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – APRIL 25: Umpire Ray Chamberlain in action during the 2018 AFL round five ANZAC Day match between the Collingwood Magpies and the Essendon Bombers at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on April 25, 2018 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Media)
Field umpire Ray Chamberlain was forced to ask for special permission to be excused from bouncing the ball in 2024, as he was plagued by shoulder injures and two bulging discs in his back. Despite umpiring the home and away season, inability to bounce the ball saw Chamberlain – one of the most experienced field umpires – precluded from finals in 2023, as the AFL deemed bouncing a requirement in September.
Much like the AFL allowed female boundary umpires Greta Miller, Kaitlin Barr, and Melissa Sambrooks to come in from the boundary line to perform throw-ins, the removal of the bounce will eliminate one hurdle to the AFL field umpiring ranks that is disproportionally difficult for women.
Beyond physical exertion, there is a certain mental pressure placed on the umpire bouncing the ball as well. With tiny margins for error, and any stray bounces drawing the ire of tens of thousands in the crowd, performing the centre bounce is a mentally challenging act, which, it has been argued, distracts umpires from their primary concern of watching for free kicks.
Since it has been absent from local football for decades, many talented umpires reach state-league and run into an immediate road block: the necessity of being able to perform a bounce. This added element adds an obstacle for otherwise talented decision makers that may halt their ascension through the ranks.
A rule change in the lead up to the 2013 season saw the bounce limited; saved for restarting play in the centre of the ground following a goal, while stoppages would be resolved with ball-ups around the ground.
The future of the bounce has been in doubt for years. The unique aesthetic value of the central field umpire slamming the football into the turf in the centre of the ground has perhaps kept the bounce in the game for 12 years longer than it would have otherwise.
No other sport required its umpires to be as skilled with the ball in hand as its players.
Slamming an oval shaped ball onto an irregular surface as hard as you can, launching it as high as possible and having it fall within a radius of 5 metres is exceedingly difficult to master.
Paired with the thundering siren, charging ruckmen, and the cheers of the crowd, it was also spectacular.
The bounce was a unique and proud possession of the AFL field umpire.
Pictured: Field Umpire Andrew Stephens performs one of the last ever centre bounces in the 2025 AFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos).
Article by Jackson Kerr