Nick Maxwell thinks the interchange rules should be left as they are
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MUCH has been written recently about the number of rotations through the interchange clubs are now using.
A lot of the focus is on my club Collingwood because of the record numbers we have achieved in the past 12 months. Before you make up your own opinion, consider the research conducted by the Magpies.
Sports science director David Buttifant has been researching this for the past three years. In that time he has found that through increased rotations, collision injuries have decreased, despite what the AFL predicted by a quickening of the game.
In 2005, Collingwood had an average of 28 rotations per game with 19 collision injuries. A year later and the club had an average of 43 rotations per game with 18 collision injuries. Last year we had only nine collision injuries as the average of rotations crept up to 60.
In the same period, soft tissue injuries have not increased as some expected. On a more technical basis, there was also no increase in mean distances covered by players during the season, no changes in average speed during the season and no changes in work-to-rest ratio.
Of course these figures are only three-years-old and only cover one club, but observers can see why Collingwood are looking to increase rotations for the benefit of its players.
Buttifant believes that limiting the number of interchange a club may use could influence the health and well being of players, as well as their longevity in the game.
Brisbane star Luke Power has called for limits to the interchange so we can go back to the great 'one-on-one match-ups between the like of Buckley and Voss or Hird and Buckley'.
I argue that they barely played on each other. Collingwood tagged Hird and Essendon tagged Buckley.
What mass rotations do allow, however, is for a tagged player such as Chris Judd, to lose his ‘tagger’. Instead of seeing the champion midfielders of the game get scragged all day, we will instead see them displaying the flair and skill that has made them the champions they are.
The game will become more free-flowing, with the ball moving too quickly up and down the ground for flooding to be a factor, with only players who are fit and firing running around. They can give their burst, and then recover, then go again.
Some people have also argued that there will be less contested possession because of increased rotation. Although we’re only two weeks in, the stats say otherwise. Collingwood has had the most rotations and, guess what, they also lead the league in contested possession. Whether that holds up for the remainder of the season, only time will tell.
Arguably the greatest player in the games history Leigh Matthews, said that he 'likes the free-flowing, vibrant game it (mass rotation) has created, but there is less on-on-one contests' – the last point I have already proposed.
And it seems a free-flowing game into which AFL is currently evolving is also what the fans want. AFL Chairman Mike Fitzpatrick even sent a text message to Brisbane Lions chairman Tony Kelly stating what a great game the Collingwood versus Brisbane Lions game was on the weekend – a game that produced a record amount of interchange rotations.
Last year game attendances increased to over seven million, while total club memberships have continued to increase over the past five years – more evidence to show how the game’s popularity is ever increasing as it continues to evolve.
The bottom line is, yes the game is getting quicker, maybe in part to the increase in interchange rotations. The current data available suggests that this may decrease collision related injuries and enhance the quality of the game for spectators.
This warrants further investigation before any rules are amended, as hasty changes may be detrimental to our great game.
At this stage, no one knows for sure if interchange rotations will or will not be beneficial to the game and the players. I’m hoping we can be certain rules need changing before any changes are made – let’s take out the guesswork.
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