The message to Australia's youngsters has become very clear from the AFL - Do not aspire to become a defender.
On Thursday, AFL Football Operations Manager Adrian Anderson announced that the game's Laws Committee will be reviewing three areas of the game, two of which are deliberately rushed behinds and kicking backwards.
The question is, how much tougher is the AFL prepared to make life for the game's backmen?
For decades, young defenders were taught to chop their opponents' arms in order to impair their ability to mark the ball. The technique became an art form over the years and was regarded as a very effective weapon in the defender's arsenal.
Yet in 2005, the Laws Committee decided to outlaw this reflex action which had become intrinsically part of the backman's game after years of thorough education.
As the game's defenders were adapting to a radically new game style, they were dealt another seismic jolt this year when it was announced that any hands in the back would result in a concession of a free kick.
That's right. Even a resting hand in a forward's back could net him a pot shot for goal from 40 metres out directly in front.
Granted, forwards have also been affected by this drastic interpretation this year (just ask Matthew Richardson), but the penalty for a backman is far greater than it is for a forward as the end result could be a six-pointer.
When you take into consideration that the deliberate out of the bounds rule has become as red-hot as it ever has in the game's history, it's apparent that defenders are being afforded little support from the sport's governing body.
And just in case restrictions on backmen haven't reached an all-time high, the forthcoming review of deliberately rushed behinds and kicking backwards may drive our game's defenders to breaking point.
The deliberately rushed behind has become a backman's best friend in the face of the systematic and concerted attack on him from the AFL and he deserves to retain this luxury without fear of conceding three points.
The AFL's defenders have also been forced to reinvent themselves in the wake of the 'arm-chopping hands-in-the-back revolution', and they have done so with aplomb by implementing what is now known as 'possession football'.
The fact that the Laws Committee is even contemplating the potential of disallowing a mark from a backwards kick is not good enough. It's a cop out for forwards who aren't prepared to carry out a footy fundamental: man up.
If the opposing team isn't prepared to man up, then bad luck! A team should be allowed to kick backwards as much as it likes.
How much easier is the AFL looking to make things for the game's forwards? Chopping the arms has been outlawed, hands-in-the-back have been outlawed and now they may not have to man up next year.
In fact the only restriction the Laws Committee has imposed on forwards in recent memory was the farcical 30-second time limit when lining up for goal. This 'rule' has been about as well policed as jaywalking is.
The AFL defender is slowly but surely becoming like the one-day cricket bowler as both their sports are being designed specifically for forwards and batsmen respectively.
So for all you kids out there who intend on playing the great Australian game, here's a tip for you: keep your hand down when your coach asks 'who wants to play in defence?'