The beginning of the 2011 AFL season has bought exuberant hype surrounding the substitute rule and the tactics around choosing a player and when to substitute him on.
Thursday night showed the whole world what could potentially go wrong if a substitute is activated without an appropriate game plan.
Brett Ratten pulled a cunning move at the beginning of the fourth quarter, which won Carlton the game, while showing the football community he is still a dangerous force as a tactician.
Leading comfortable by 18 points at half time (which should have been much more if not for the 10 behinds they had kicked), Jarrad Waite was substituted for Kane Lucas following medical advice not to risk concussion if returning Waite back to the ground.
Structurally speaking, Waite is the most important player for the Blues due to his marking, spoiling and ability to play at both ends. In his absence, the Blues midfield lofted numerous balls into the forward 50 expecting Eddie Betts and Jeff Gartlet to grow 20cm and outmark Luke McGuane and David Astbury overhead.
They we’re crunched every time and powerful rebounding by Chris Newman and Brett Deledio saw Richmond kick six unanswered goals in the third term to go into the final break with a 14 point lead.
With the Carlton structure in disarray, it was too much to ask from Kane Lucas to cover Waite’s absence so Ratt’s made the call to pull Shaun Hampson out of the ruck and park him in the goal square to either bring it to Betts’ and Gartlet’s disposal or take the mark, keeping the ball away from Newman and Deledio – Richmond’s two best ball users.
After making the change, Hampson proved strong in marking contests against Astbury, taking two good marks and kicking one goal. Carlton went on to kick five goals to none to run away with the game by 20 points.
Learning the hard way how to overcome structural deficiencies in the event a substitution must be made, Ratts has saved coaches all over the league two quarters of tactical trial and error testing.
Had he not made the change, Richmond would have likely continued their dominance from the third quarter and taken the four points.
The substation rule will one player substituted from the bench as well as a few on the field into different positions.
This means we will see the emergence of multi-position players more this season than ever when coaches are forced to restructure the spine in the absence of key position players.
With their additional height and body strength, this will be the year ruckman prove to be the most important players in the team.
Delusional
Guest
Substitute's rule almost cost Carlton the match? You what!? Do you even know how footy is played? Carlton kicked badly and was not winning enough footy, on top of the fact they had Thornton on that Richmond number 8 character who murdered him. The game is played on the field, not on the benches. Don't kid yourselves.
Alfred Chan
Expert
After seeing Waite chair Scotland off the ground, I have to question whether or not the medical staff led Ratts to pull the substitution trigger to early. Correct me if I'm wrong but Lucas came on about 5 or 6 minutes before half time. I'm not entirely familiar with concussion testing but had Ratts held out for those 6 minutes for the extended break, the medico diagnosis may have been different - but I'm no doctor. That said, I'm glad Waite was not further injured.
TomC
Guest
Shifting Hampson to the forwardline was a cunning move that won Carlton the game? As far as I recall he only touched the ball twice. Thats a pretty poor return in a quarter for a forward when the midfield is dominating. And what significance did the sub rule have in Carlton's medical staff advising Ratten not to put Waite back on the ground? Are you suggesting Ratten would have ignored the medical staff if not for the sub rule? The logic in your argument seems very weak to me.
EricBloom
Roar Rookie
Hampson only played in the ruck for about 15 minutes in the 2nd and 3rd quarters combined. But when he went forward he had as much forward pressence as the goal upmire. Unlikely to hold his spot when kreuzer returns. Warnock was fantastic.
Aware
Guest
What's more important? Winning a game or protecting the health of a player. The AFL has made some dumb rule changes but protecting concussed players is not one of them. Waite's health was more important than Carlton's structure (even though I don't have much time for Waite's bad tempered behaviour as a rule).
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
Did you even watch this game? Hampson started the match in the goal square, played most of the game there when he wasnt rucking - which was rare enough - and finished it there. Hampson took the first mark in the gola square for carlton and kicked the first of our many points. Waites contribution until he went off under the concussion rule - which then invoked the sub rule - was a single point. The sub didnt almost cost us the match, our kicking for gal almost did. Our inability to land tackles almost did. Our shocking delivery into the forward 50 almost did. Our undermanned and undersized defence almost did. Not the sub.