Jordan Lewis of Hawthorn lies injured during the AFL Round 03 match between the Western Bulldogs and the Hawthorn Hawks at Etihad Stadium, Melbourne.
The speed of the game has created a fair bit of interest in the past couple of weeks after serious injuries to some pretty big name stars within the league, and it’s creating some real interest from me, too.
I wait in anticipation to see how the AFL responds to the problem and I do not think capping the interchange numbers is the answer to this. The game has without doubt got faster over the past five years, and the demand on our bodies week in week out is making it physically tougher to get up for the next week’s game.
The AFL has modified rules over the years that have made the game quicker and now they are faced with the problem of slowing it down otherwise soft tissue injuries will become more and more common.
Firstly, I must say though I believe the rule changes that the AFL has made have been fantastic for the game, and I have no problem with them at all. I think it has turned our great game into more of a spectacle for supporters, but this is going to come at a cost.
If the AFL does cap interchange numbers it is going to mean that players are going to be spending more time on the field than what they previously have. At this current point in time players bring themselves off in order to get a rest so that they can finish off the game.
The speed of the game has made it physically more taxing on the body and if interchange numbers are capped this will result in more soft tissue injuries. Players come off in order to avoid fatigue, and this is what is one of the biggest causes of soft tissue injuries. The more fatigued a player is then the more likely they are to “pull” a hamstring, calf or a quad.
Due to the speed of the game every sports scientist in every team will tell you that rotations are extremely important for teams to run out games. They know, and their stats will tell you, that by rotating players on and off the bench that this can give them a distinct advantage, and Collingwood is the best in the league at it. The players will deliberately rotate themselves on and off so that they play in seven minute bursts where they will be producing maximum efforts for that whole period of time.
I must admit that being out there you can definitely feel the difference in speed from previous years. There has been a shift in the training that you do. It has moved from being an aerobic game, to an anaerobic game where players are training their repeated speed efforts more.
This only enhances the chances of injury because the body can only do so many repeated maximum efforts before it starts to take its toll. The game is getting considerably quicker and the AFL have a challenge, and an obligation, to make sure that their greatest assets are able to take the field week in week out.
What the change is I am not sure, but putting a cap on interchange, I believe, will not help this at all.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Thanks for the player perspective Troy. The number of interchanges has increased to such a bewildering extent in the space of 5 years that it seems difficult to argue that there should be no cap at all (what about a very high cap?) It is starting to look like a reduction in the length of quarters is the go, with the 20 min quarters regularly getting up to around the 35 minute mark all up - that ain't good for anyone. By the way, congrats on a great team effort the other day in downing St KIlda (and ruining all our tips).
James
Guest
There needs to be a right balance struck on the number of interchanges when restricted, ie not too many and not too few. Also what happens if there are injuries after you've used up all your interchanges? Do teams have to play a man down, etc?
Redb
Guest
Hard to work this out, many say the constant pace is creating too many soft tissue injuries. I vote for capping the interchange.
Michael DiFabrizio
Expert
Very good article, Troy. Particularly agreed with the fact fatigue leads to more soft tissue injuries at a time when people are using soft tissue injuries to justify why we should cap the interchanges!
Marshall
Guest
Agreed. If you limit interchanges it'll become like soccer where players play on injured and the games slows too much with fatigue. The speed of the game isn't the real evil here. But I think shortening the game is the simpliest option.
James
Guest
Troy, great to have an AFL player perspective on this. I agree that the interchange solutions would increase the likelihood of fatigue and possibly injury. Can't help but feel the only proper solution is to shorten the game to 90-100 minutes from the current 120 minutes.