Offer more reward for the tackler, rather than experiment with zones or less players on the AFL field.
That was Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley's prescription when asked about how the AFL might try to ease the ongoing problem of player congestion around the ball.
Buckley was responding to a Fairfax Media report on Thursday that said the league was conducting secret trials with clubs to assess potential rule changes.
In the trials, the AFL has experimented with players starting in set positions and 16, rather than 18, players on the field.
"It's definitely a way of easing congestion - there's been a focus, I suppose, of the laws of the game to try to open the game up a little bit more," Buckley told SEN radio.
Buckley noted the interchange cap had also done that to an extent.
He would like the AFL to also look closely at changing the rules around prior opportunity when a player disposes of the ball.
"Personally, I think we can tinker with the prior opportunity - I've been banging that drum for a little while," he said.
"We'll ease congestion by rewarding the tackle a little bit more, at times.
"That might even force guys to dispose the ball out of that immediate area a little bit earlier if they feel like there's any danger of being pinged for a tackle without prior opportunity."
Buckley is not sold on the zone or 16-per-side ideas.
"I think there are other measures we could go to first," he said.
"I wouldn't arbitrarily move players or ask players to move to certain positions to achieve the aim.
"I'd rather tinker with what's happening at the source, that actually asks coaches to adapt and find the solution, which would be to spread their players through the ground a little bit more.
"That's probably the one that's more sustainable."
But he is glad the AFL is trialling ideas, saying the game's rule makers must be sure before they usher in changes.
"There are plenty of different mechanisms you can use (and) there's no doubt that trialling is the way to go," he said.
"You don't want to pull the trigger on something you have to undo two years later."
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