Review Rd 19 Review - Freo Dont Lose Against Richmond

[King Tenz]

But it hasn't opened up congestion ... it has done the opposite.
Statisticians/coaches like Rob Harding have shown using champion data that it has resulted in more congestion around the ball with an increase in contested possession stats and reduced scoring since being implemented. He and many of his colleagues advocate returning to a no cap interchange.
The AFL often respond to these types of reports by saying it was introduced to reduce concussions by reducing player speeds, but again the player associations have advocated that soft tissue injuries increase with player fatigue so again the interchange caps are not necessarily an improvement for the health of AFL players either.

Just like the medical sub rule, so many of these junk rules are more about AFL representatives flexing their muscles instead of making sound logical improvements to the game.

Good to confirm what I always thought.

This idea that more fatigue in the game will somehow open up the game and lead to an increase in scoring always seemed like total bullshit to me, like who keeps coming up with that garbage honestly?

 

[Stinky Lomax]

Statisticians/coaches like Rob Harding have shown using champion data that it has resulted in more congestion around the ball with an increase in contested possession stats and reduced scoring since being implemented. He and many of his colleagues advocate returning to a no cap interchange.
The AFL often respond to these types of reports by saying it was introduced to reduce concussions by reducing player speeds, but again the player associations have advocated that soft tissue injuries increase with player fatigue so again the interchange caps are not necessarily an improvement for the health of AFL players either.

Just like the medical sub rule, so many of these junk rules are more about AFL representatives flexing their muscles instead of making sound logical improvements to the game.

Again, not arguing with you, but the logic behind it was that there were less soft tissue injuries when football was played with 2 on the bench & about 6 rotations a game. The game was slower, less k’s in the legs & far less muscle injuries. The AFL had no hope of replicating that but felt it had to do something, but as we’ve seen at Fremantle, putting in place a decent S&C team along with a balanced load management & preseason program is the way to combat the injuries.

But getting back to my original point, having 5 on the interchange doesn’t fit the AFL’s agenda of trying to fatigue players to open up play. (Whether that’s flawed or not)

 

[PurpleEyes]

Again, not arguing with you, but the logic behind it was that there were less soft tissue injuries when football was played with 2 on the bench & about 6 rotations a game. The game was slower, less k’s in the legs & far less muscle injuries. The AFL had no hope of replicating that but felt it had to do something, but as we’ve seen at Fremantle, putting in place a decent S&C team along with a balanced load management & preseason program is the way to combat the injuries.

But getting back to my original point, having 5 on the interchange doesn’t fit the AFL’s agenda of trying to fatigue players to open up play. (Whether that’s flawed or not)

Regardless of their agenda, fatiguing players is not fixing the scoring or congestion problems ... real world data shows this.

Less than 30 years ago (1978-1993), the AFL had just 2 on the interchange.
Since then there has been a steady trend of adding more to a point that we now have 4 interchange + 1 medical sub.
I very much doubt that the AFL will reduce the players available on the interchange in the future and as soon as enough problems with the medical sub are highlighted and discussed, I predict they will drop the sub and simplify it to 5 on the interchange ... just like history shows they tend to always eventually do (eg 2016 when they dropped the sub and went back to a 4 interchange due to available data and players showing the sub rule sucked).

I think they will be aware that if they do reduce the interchange numbers, it will not fix the low scoring or congestion problems and will only make them look foolish in the eyes of dissaproving coaches and players who prefer a simple interchange approach.

 

[God docker]

Rewatching the game, question...

First quarter Cotchin tackles Brodie from behind and Cotchin purposely swings his leg around to trip Brodie. Legal tackle or free kick? Just never seen it done before.

 

[yakamoto]

I noticed it too. Looked odd. Accidental or something new in tackling technique? The former more likely I think.
But then it was Cotchin.

 

[Randomizor]

I feel bad for draftees nowadays due to the interchange cap. Not only do they need to hold all the normal attributes, they also need to be superhuman fit. I feel it sets them back a year or so before they can come in and have a real impact. Looking at someone like Henry who, while building, looked gassed in the second half of games for a while. What influence could he have had if he was allowed more time on the bench?