The storm that has kicked off over Fremantle and North Melbourne’s decision to rest players this weekend for what are effectively dead rubbers is understandable in one sense, but completely ridiculous in another.
It’s obviously not the ideal situation for the AFL – Fremantle will travel to Adelaide to take on the Power this weekend with a team made up predominately of Peel Thunder players from the WAFL.
This was a welcome decision for Fremantle fans, but not so much those who follow the Peel Thunder, considering they’ve just qualified for the finals for the first time in the clubs history and will now probably struggle to field a side.
Still, they’ve got the double chance, so while it’s not ideal, it’s not the end of the world.
Even though the Dockers’ request to the AFL earlier in the week to rest up to 12 players kicked off a bit of a debate as to whether they were playing in the spirit of the competition, it seems after a solid rant most people settled down and realised that the club earned the right to decide how to manage their own team by finishing on top of the ladder only losing a handful of matches for the season.
However, people really fired up when North Melbourne, after seeing the AFL’s willingness to accommodate Fremantle’s request, also decided that resting some players seemed like a pretty bloody sensible thing to do, so they thought they’d give it a whirl as well.
Instead of having an unfortunate bout of ‘general soreness’ sweep through the club, the Kangaroos made a formal request to the AFL to rest up to 10 players, which was granted and subsequently met with a truckload of antipathy.
The main reason for this becoming a large issue is due to the AFL somehow managing to create a draw that reshapes the laws of physics, the Kangaroos could basically guarantee themselves a home final by losing on Friday night rather than winning.
If the Kangaroos were to win against the Tigers, there was an outside chance they may have had to travel to Adelaide to face the Crows next week, one of the toughest tests in football. It was unlikely, but was possible. Now it is a lot less likely. But still possible.
Cue the outrage.
“They’re tanking.”
They’re not.
“They’re making a farce of the competition.”
Maybe. However, I’d suggest it’s slightly more farcical that we’ve got a competition where around a third of the teams were just making up the numbers from about the halfway point in the season.
“They could go out there and maim players.”
They could. However, we’re not playing ice hockey in 1976. I’d suggest that the preference of any players brought in this week would be to play really well and put themselves in contention for selection in the finals. Call me crazy.
Larissa Nicholson from The Age wrote today: “AFL spokesman Patrick Keane said the league’s integrity committee had considered North Melbourne’s proposal to rest a group of players and decided it complied with the rule requiring clubs to act with “legitimate competitive objectives”.”
Realistically, the most surprising thing there is that the AFL have an integrity committee.
And in this case, they’ve also made the correct decision.
Teams have every right to play whichever players they feel will give them the best chance of winning the ultimate prize. If that means resting key players for what is effectively a pointless contest, then so be it.
A far more concerning development would be for the AFL to start becoming involved in team selection and management. They already have a say in the administration and coaching staff at certain clubs – that’s probably enough I think.
An uneven competition and a bit of bad luck is what has found them in this position – and on this occasion they’ve dealt with it properly.
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