COACHES have more influence than rules on the way modern football is played, a delegation from the AFL Players Association has told League football boss Mark Evans.

Players have also raised the possibility that the increasing gap between the best and worst teams – an issue the AFL is attempting to address through competitive balance policies – has a significant influence on the game style that coaches adopt. 

The AFLPA's Players and the Game group told Evans and umpires boss Wayne Campbell at a meeting on Tuesday night that some coaches were adopting more conservative approaches as the season progressed to keep their team in games for longer. 

AFL.com.au understands players and coaches have both expressed the view in recent weeks that opening up games would put teams with less talented lists at risk of heavy losses when mismatched with their opponents.

The AFL's Laws of the Game committee is understood to have discussed the issue ahead of the North Melbourne-Essendon game in round 17.

Players told Evans and Campbell that they now had a starting position for each game situation, and the level of on-field prescription had continually gathered pace this decade.

Hawthorn defeated a struggling Carlton by 138 points last Friday night and five teams have percentages of less than 80 per cent after 17 rounds.

More ball-ups, less on-field congestion

In Tuesday's meeting, the AFL explained to players several ideas to reduce congestion that have been raised publicly, such as reducing the number of players on the ground; forcing players into starting points at stoppages; and enforcing deliberate out of bounds more rigorously to put the onus on players to attempt to keep the ball in play.

The players are of the view that the game will evolve and that coaches will be able to find ways to manage any rule changes or any reduction in rotations to ensure the game was played in the style that best suited their team. 

They also spoke of the potential impact such changes might have on the type of player recruited, and questioned whether reducing the number of players on the ground would merely lead to a five-man forward-line for each team and whether that would have the intended impact of opening up the game.

Evans said on radio on Tuesday night that introducing zones would be an "absolute last resort" and that congestion issues would not be addressed until post-season.

The AFL has become increasingly concerned about the way some games are being played, with on-field congestion reducing the attractiveness of some games.

Despite the increase in average free kicks per game in round 18, many games were good spectacles.

Evans met the AFL Commission on Tuesday to discuss issues arising from the way the game is played.