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Coaches against the cap

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick wants the AFL to inform the league on what it plans to do to cap interchange rotations next season, with fears veterans could miss out under the new regime.

Hardwick said once troubled veteran Ben Cousins could be directly affected by the league’s plans to cut the number of interchange moves.

Cousins’ chances of playing another season could be decided by the decision and the Tigers are keen to find out quickly what’s install for veterans and what effect restricting rotations will have on some players.

Under current AFL rules there are no restrictions on the number of times a player can go on the field and come off, so players’ endurance is preserved as they play in short bursts.

Hardwick reckons capping interchanges could impact on whether the Tigers offered 32-year-old Cousins another season or not.

Sports media outlets this week quoted the coach saying that the issue is something the club will have to weigh up and “that’s why we like to know earlier rather than later”.

An AFL committee will next month meet to nut out the issue.

It’s understood a cap of 100 interchanges per game could be introduced in a bid to slow the pace of the game, as well as reducing the possibility of injuries.

Information gathered by FootyGoss found that the average so far this season is just over 115 interchanges per game.

Some clubs however are serial interchanges with the likes of Hawthorn often making way more than 115, and last Friday swapped players a whopping 156 times during its draw with St Kilda.

The league fears growing player rotations could introduce a chaotic element to the game, with coaches on both sides of the fence of the argument.

Most AFL coaches believe interchange numbers would be monitored to see if they have any correlation to the amount of soft-tissue injuries occurring in the game, but claim there is none.

AFL Coaches’ Association head honcho Danny Frawley said the league was not going to clamp it, but instead keep monitoring to see if the data shows there is any correlation between soft issue and the amount of interchanges.

“Coaches don’t want restrictions,” he said.

Coach Brad Scott said North Melbourne opposes the idea of an interchange cap.

Scott said the league officials had presented North with no evidence, describing it as flimsy, relating increased interchanges to more injuries.

AFL football operations boss Adrian Anderson said there was a need to control the interchange explosion, which now sees clubs regularly move players on and off the ground 140 times a game and more.

Collingwood and the Bulldogs have already voiced reservations with a cap.