I was curious what effect the new rules may have on the scoring of the rucks.
In the full 2018 AFL season, including finals, there was a total of 16,098 ruck hit-outs in 207 games.
An average of 77.77 hit-outs per game.
Compare this with the 2019 JLT series. I believe these games were played for the full game time with time-on.
Round 1 of the 2019 JLT series: there were 664 hit-outs, an average of 73.77.
Round 2 of the 2019 JLT series: there were 647 hit-outs, an average of 71.88.
The 2 round 2019 JLT total is 1,311 tap-outs at an average of 72.83 hit-outs per game.
Info from:
https://supercoachscores.com/threads/jlt-game-summaries.4029/
The difference, on this small sample of the full 2018 AFL season, versus the 2019 JLT series, indicates a decrease of 4.94 hit-outs per game.
This represents a 6.35% decrease in hit-outs and ruck scoring.
Maybe some of you more experienced super-coach players can make and share some worthwhile conclusions?
Info used 2018 from "footywire",
https://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/ft_ladder?year=2018&pt=ST&st=hitouts&sb=g :
Adelaide, 903 hit-outs in 22 games
Carlton, 722 hit-outs in 22 games
Essendon, 822 hit-outs in 22 games
Bulldogs, 612 hit-outs in 22 games
Freo, 910 hit-outs in 22 games
Kangaroos, 915 hit-outs in 22 games
Brisbane, 949 hit-outs in 22 games
Port Adelaide, 895 hit-outs in 22 games
Saints, 647 hit-outs in 22 games
Gold Coast, 998 hit-outs in 22 games
Geelong, 824 hit-outs in 23 games
Sydney, 736 hit-outs in 23 games
GWS, 862 hit-outs in 24 games
Hawthorn, 984 hit-outs in 24 games
Richmond, 671 hit-outs in 24 games
Melbourne, 1,263 hit-outs in 25 games
WCE, 1,124 hit-outs in 25 games
Collingwood, 1,211 hit-outs in 26 games