AFL football operations boss Steve Hocking says tackling is “definitely not” at the top of the league’s agenda.

In a press conference yesterday, Hocking admitted that tackling had become “a feature” of the game but the league didn’t want it to necessarily be a “skill”.

Speaking on SEN Breakfast, he reiterated that the league simply wants a “balance in tackling”, not to reduce them altogether.

“It’s certainly a really important part of the game, definitely,” he said.

“We want that, we want a contested game but 160-plus tackles in a game - I’m not sure that’s what the fans want. We want some space.”

Hocking says that the 6-6-6 centre-bounce set-up has created more room for players to move and score, but he hopes that space can be created in other areas of the game as well.

“There’s a bit more space in the game, we’ve seen that and it retracts pretty quickly from there,” he said.

“So it’s how do we actually spread that type of mechanism across the game and in other parts of the game.

“That’s just the work that’s ahead of us moving forward.”

Listen to Steve Hocking on SEN Breakfast in the player below: