HOT on the heels of the announcement that junior footballers in Victoria will play scoreless matches to make the game more fun and inclusive, news.com.au has uncovered a secret AFL plan to play a score free-round in Round 22 this year.

In a leaked white paper entitled “THE FUTURE OF OUR GREAT, INCLUSIVE, EXCELLENTLY GOVERNED GAME”, outgoing CEO Andrew Demetriou lists score-free rounds as one of the legacies he believes will cement the AFL’s status as the premier Australian sporting code.

“Research has shown that fans of teams which continuously lose can develop low self-esteem and anger issues, and lose interest in the code,” the white paper says.

“While we know that Collingwood fans have self-esteem and anger issues regardless of how their team performs, it is hoped that fans of clubs like the Melbourne Demons and Western Bulldogs will maintain both their interest in the code and their will-to-live through this initiative.

media_camera Scoreless rounds should prove a huge boost for Bulldogs and Demons players, many of whom have never actually touched a football. (Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images)

According to the white paper, the score-free matches would likely take place in Round 22, as “that’s when most teams tend to tank* anyway, while good teams rest players for the finals”.

“Did we say tank? Sorry. We meant lose after trying as hard as possible,” the white paper clarifies.

The leaked document includes several other proposals to maintain the domination of the AFL over its rivals, including a peptide-free round and a James Brayshaw-free round.

“The former would be impossible to police but we will look into it going forward, while the latter would obviously be an incredibly popular initiative,” the white paper states.

The leaked document was first brought to light on the morning of April 1.

NO SCORES FOR KIDS: READ THE ORIGINAL STORY HERE