It's known among AFL coaches as the "back lead" but let's call it the zone buster, the latest innovation clubs are using to try and avoid midfield congestion and create crucial space in their attacking 50-metre arc.

As the 16 AFL clubs analyse the trends and tactics of Round 1, how to negate the rolling midfield zone - a tactic Hawthorn rode to the 2008 premiership and which has since been copied by all clubs - is at the top of the "must-do" list.

A backpagelead.com.au investigation has found the "back lead" comes after a team has pushed most, if not all, of its players into its defensive half, forcing an opponent with the ball in defence to kick to a contest.

But if the attacking team is able to kick the ball long over the cluster of defenders, the "back lead" comes into play. Players duck back from their defensive half and swarm into their attacking 50m by leading towards goal. More often than not, this one-on-one contest renders a defender helpless on either a power forward such as Nick Riewoldt or speedy small or medium forwards such as Steve Johnson.

Several senior and assistant coaches backpagelead.com.au spoke to through the pre-season said there had been greater emphasis put on implementing and countering the zone using a fast break.

"It's a major part of the game now. Look at the success the Hawks had with their rolling zone," said one coach. "We had to find a way to get by that strategy."

Former Hawthorn and Carlton forward Daniel Harford, now a commentator on Melbourne radio SEN, said the new tactic reprised memories of the "Pagan's paddock" theory used so successfully by the Denis Pagan-led North Melbourne sides of the 1990s.

"It's a bit like the paddock-syndrome that Pagan used to have," Harford said.  "All the players used to push up into the midfield where most of the players now spend more time between the (50m) arcs trying to congest that area of the ground. Once they get it over that, they just get it inside their 50m as deep as possible to the bloke running back towards goal.

"That's the back lead. The last thing a defender wants to do is run towards goal with an opponent leading towards goal. The theory is, if you can break through the zone, that's the key to everything.

"If you can break through the zone with your hands and your run, then your deepest players, or the players closest to goal for you, will just bolt to the square."

The tactic was used by all teams in Round 1, with Geelong, St Kilda and Brisbane, after some half-time tinkering against West Coast, particularly efficient.

Pagan said teams had three options to unlock the rolling zone. "You can go over it, you can go through it, or you can go around it," he told backpagelead.com.au. "It's very hard (for defenders) when the forwards have pushed up. What the Kangaroos used to do in the 90s, we used to push everyone up, then Wayne Carey became that target virtually in the true centre half-forward position.

"He had all that space behind him. Even if he didn't mark it, be brought it to the ground or hit it over the back. You have so many options."

Coaches, however, need to strike the right balancing act. As Fox Sports commentator Tony Shaw noted on Saturday night, when Lions' coach Michael Voss pushed his entire team too far beyond the centre square into its attacking half against West Coast to bottle up possession, the Eagles - once they had possession - were easily able to run into space on the rebound and kick away to a healthy early lead.

When Voss appeared to push this zone back a little in the second half, the Lions took charge.

"I think Geelong lost the grand-final a couple of years ago (2008) with their forwards pushing up," Pagan noted. "I know Stevie Johnson got a lot of possessions in that grand final but didn't do a lot of damage."

Harford said the "back lead" was a good tactic even if the team running into space turned the ball over.

"Even if your bloke doesn't get it, and the opposition blokes get it, well, they're almost on the last line," he said. "That gives your zone again time to push up forward so they (opposition) have got less space to get the ball outside the defensive 50, so more time spent in your 50m means more scoring opportunities."

While tactics are one thing, having the skills and nous to complete these are another.

Pagan had all the tools with Carey and company in the 1990s, but the same couldn't be said during his tumultuous days at Carlton.

"Hawthorn tried to get numbers back on the weekend (against Melbourne) and get one loose player free like they always have," Pagan said.

"I heard someone criticising (Melbourne coach) Dean Bailey. I feel for Dean Bailey.

"You can put Mark Thompson or Alastair Clarkson or Rodney Eade there. I don't think they would make any difference to Melbourne at the present stage.

"If you have got the best players, it won't make any difference, they will work it all out."