AFL players are in the grips of a massive injury crisis with some of the best players in the game missing weeks due to injury.
The likes of Patrick Dangerfield, Lachie Neale and Taylor Adams are all facing extended time on the sidelines.
There is no doubt that the game has got quicker and the introduction of new rules has opened it up like never before.
The 2020 season was one that many footy fans might never forget, being thrown into a new reality of hubs and extended times without seeing your club live.
One of the biggest and most noticeable changes was the reduction of quarter lengths from the standard 20 minutes to the shortened 15 minutes to give players additional time to play back-to-back games with often three-to-four-day breaks.
The game and the fixture were compressed to accommodate an ever-changing landscape of border closures and quarantine to fit in a full season.
(Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)
The added time from 15 minutes to 20 has added an hour onto games to account for stoppages and breaks in play.
Syndesmosis seems to be the buzz word around footy clubs with the accumulation of broken fibres between joints in the lower leg.
The added intensity and extra running of the modern game are causing our brightest and best players, who would be considered elite, to have failings in their body.
The added stress and physical stamina to keep up with the addition of rules to free up the ball and bring back vintage run-and-carry footy might be the reason behind so many soft-tissue injuries.
The man-on-the-mark rule was introduced this year to open up that run-and-carry and play-the-ball through the middle of the ground. It has suited players and positions with the tall forward having a clearer run at the ball.
The forward kicking ten goals in a game is back on the cards. The downside is the struggle that comes from a midfielder covering more ground and covering more space, especially after coming back from shorter quarters and increased stress on the body.
Players who play midfield are not the only group falling into injury trouble. Jeremy Howe from Collingwood has also injured himself and will miss close to four weeks. Michael Hurley is set to miss a large part of the season with a hip issue.
The game has become so fast and with players covering more ground, injuries are set to occur anywhere on the field.
Dangerfield and Neale, who are both previous Brownlow medallists, have both been sidelined for up to eight weeks on the sidelines.
The faster, longer game is seeing the rate of injuries and soft-tissue injuries rise.
Have we got to a point in our game where we have pushed the envelope so much to bring in rules to free up the footy and speed up the game from a spectator’s point of view that we are losing some of the best players?
BillyW
Roar Rookie
Except it wont because ball movement becomes predictable and this rule then fuels the old flood, why go man on man when you can sit back and wait in numbers. According to an article in the Age on the 16th of April injuries were less than at the same stage in 2019....... I think the AFL should have left the interchange cap as it was knowing a shortened off season and going back to 20min qtrs was going to be a challenge for clubs this year.
Brendon the 1st
Roar Rookie
And cost, I know, but they're still awfully fast and awfully dangerous. If they weren't no one would watch them
Minz
Guest
There is a reason that Formula 1 has technology limitations, and it isn't that cars going too fast is a lousy spectacle - they deliberately reduce speed for safety reasons. http://www.atlasf1.com/news/safety.html
Chanon
Roar Rookie
Amino acids you reckon
Charlie Keegan
Roar Guru
The Essendon supporter in me believes peptides will work
Charlie Keegan
Roar Guru
The AFL has always been reasonably good at publishing the data associated with their injuries so we need to wait until the end of the year before we can see if there’s an increase and if it is statistically significant.
elvis
Roar Rookie
I think the author has missed the entire point of the rule changes. If a coach wants to run his players into the ground then that is his problem, one day they might accept that midfielders can't be at every loose ball all day anymore.
Rusty Brooks
Roar Rookie
Can’t do oranges at junior games atm because if COVID. Although I haven’t noticed an alarming rate of soft tissue injuries in the local U/10s comps due to lack of vitamin C.
Cat
Roar Guru
So we have to reduce the length of games because it’s too much wear and tear on players but let’s reduce interchange so they have to stay in the ground and wear down more. Do you see the obvious contradiction here?
Cat
Roar Guru
Change Mark distance to 20m
dab
Roar Rookie
Only 1 rule needs a modification and get rid of the recent changes (stand, ruck nominations, goal square mods etc etc ). Only pay a mark when the ball is kicked 15 metres forward. Kick backwards and it is play on. Watch it open up the game.
Old Ben
Roar Rookie
Whoosh......!
Chanon
Roar Rookie
Vitamin D for 2 hrs is good for blood flow but if the analysis nerds get there way we will be lucky to watch 1hr 20 of game time more injuries more analytical data more bloody rule changes another 20 different interpretations of 1 rule Damn umps must scratch there heads, l guess that’s why most are bald!
Lukey Miller
Guest
I think the AFL will reduce quarters to 18 minutes & time-on. A corresponding reduction of interchanges to 50 per game would be appropriate. The reason that imposed stoppages, like between goals and restart, are not such a problem is that they are largely beneficial to players (ie; rest). Why the AFL did not mandate limited zoning for the commencement of AFLW puzzles me - what an opportunity to test how zones may work to enhance AFL - or not. Keeping the game open and flowing is just as important for the women's game.
Johnno
Roar Rookie
It’s the AFL that make the game longer & the coaches that push the players. It’s not the game so leave it alone, coaches & AFL marketing make the changes.
Brendon the 1st
Roar Rookie
Make sure to reapply sunscreen as well
O M
Roar Rookie
Agree totally with your summation Chanon on both points. I know there are some advocating for the shorter quarters, like Scotty who just wants to try and help his “Dad”s Army” get through a Season, but last ueR proved that shorter quarters are detrimental to the quality and spectacle of the game.
Cat
Roar Guru
I’m not the one pushing an agenda. It’s the onus of those who believe this is different from previous seasons to provide something - anything - that it is different. So far nothing but the ‘I think’s
Chanon
Roar Rookie
Bring out the oranges at Qtr time like when we played as kids may be that will help prevent injuries, Vitamin C to the rescue!!!!
Old Ben
Roar Rookie
Like yours?