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Roos wants AFL to bring in concussion sub, mocks zone rules idea

Paul Roos had Melbourne on the cusp of a fairytale finals appearance in his last season at the club. (Photo: Justine Walker/AFL Media)
17th February, 2017
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Former Melbourne Demons coach Paul Roos saw the effect concussions can have on a team roster first hand and he’s keen to see an AFL rule change as a result.

Roos believes the AFL should consider adding a 23rd man to team lists as a ‘concussion sub’ as early as the 2018 season.

“If we are going to take this issue seriously, there has to be an extra concussion player — a 23rd man,” Roos told News Corp Australia.

“We probably can’t do it for this year, but it’s something the AFL needs to look at as we get a better understanding of the issue.

“We need to take concussion more seriously and in doing that more players will be ruled out in the future, so let’s not let it impact on games.

“What we noticed (last year) is that we lost a lot of players (during games), and to be fair the doctors have to make some pretty quick calls with the strict protocols.

“We’ve seen situations like this impact on games. But under this idea if you lose a player (to concussion) you could have a 23rd player on standby to come on.”

While Roos suggested a concussion sub could be a great move for teams he ridiculed the notion of breaking the game down into zones on the field.

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“I have seen in it in the TAC Cup and it is ridiculous,” he said.

“I saw them play one game down at Frankston and it was a windy day. It was blowing to one end and they simply couldn’t move the ball out because the forwards were 120 metres away.”

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