AFL interchange rules overhauled

[The Coon Dog]

AFL interchange rules overhauled (http://news.realfooty.com.au/afl-interchange-rules-overhauled/20080513-2drc.html)

The AFL has overhauled interchange procedures in the wake of Sydney briefly fielding 19 men in last month's clash against North Melbourne.

The Swans were fined $50,000 - $25,000 of that suspended - after 19-year-old debutant Jesse White ran on to the ground before ruckman Darren Jolly had left the field at Telstra Dome.

That resulted in Sydney having an extra man on the field during the dramatic dying moments in the match which resulted in a draw.

There will be a new interchange holding area in front of the club benches and the AFL will appoint two interchange stewards involved in policing player turnover.

The new system will be applied starting this weekend.

A free kick will be awarded when a team has 19 men on the field, including when a replacement player enters the playing surface before his team mate has crossed the boundary line.

The same penalty will be enforced if a player enters the field before his interchange is approved or doesn't go through the appropriate area.

[westdog54]

AFL interchange rules overhauled (http://news.realfooty.com.au/afl-interchange-rules-overhauled/20080513-2drc.html)

The AFL has overhauled interchange procedures in the wake of Sydney briefly fielding 19 men in last month's clash against North Melbourne.

The Swans were fined $50,000 - $25,000 of that suspended - after 19-year-old debutant Jesse White ran on to the ground before ruckman Darren Jolly had left the field at Telstra Dome.

That resulted in Sydney having an extra man on the field during the dramatic dying moments in the match which resulted in a draw.

There will be a new interchange holding area in front of the club benches and the AFL will appoint two interchange stewards involved in policing player turnover.

The new system will be applied starting this weekend.

A free kick will be awarded when a team has 19 men on the field, including when a replacement player enters the playing surface before his team mate has crossed the boundary line.

The same penalty will be enforced if a player enters the field before his interchange is approved or doesn't go through the appropriate area.

This pretty much makes the head count rule redundant.

[Sockeye Salmon]

AFL interchange rules overhauled (http://news.realfooty.com.au/afl-interchange-rules-overhauled/20080513-2drc.html)

The AFL has overhauled interchange procedures in the wake of Sydney briefly fielding 19 men in last month's clash against North Melbourne.

The Swans were fined $50,000 - $25,000 of that suspended - after 19-year-old debutant Jesse White ran on to the ground before ruckman Darren Jolly had left the field at Telstra Dome.

That resulted in Sydney having an extra man on the field during the dramatic dying moments in the match which resulted in a draw.

There will be a new interchange holding area in front of the club benches and the AFL will appoint two interchange stewards involved in policing player turnover.

The new system will be applied starting this weekend.

A free kick will be awarded when a team has 19 men on the field, including when a replacement player enters the playing surface before his team mate has crossed the boundary line.

The same penalty will be enforced if a player enters the field before his interchange is approved or doesn't go through the appropriate area.
Wouldn't it just be easier to use soccers card system?

[westdog54]

Wouldn't it just be easier to use soccers card system?

I would have thought so.

[LostDoggy]

With Adrian Anderson involved, god forbide they use something from another code that works, lets make it confusing as possible.

[LostDoggy]

If we had interchanges ONLY when the ball went dead, or at a clear stoppage, that would eliminate most of the issues that we're faced with:

1. Less confusion.

2. Interchange is no longer an actual spatial tactic ie. you're always playing 18 on 18 not four extra guys on the wing sneaking on when a kick comes out that way.

3. Some will say it will slow down the game, but it will have the obvious knock-on effect of there being LESS interchanges as teams are less likely to hold up the game at every stoppage, so you cut down on the crazy numbers of changes and we get back to some classic one-on-one match-ups.

4. EVERYONE at the ground will know who is on and who is off. At the moment it's like a ridiculous fun-ride for commentators to say OH MY GOSH TWENTY PLAYERS JUST CAME ON AND OFF AT THE SAME TIME, but it's not really a great spectator sport if the spectators don't really even know who's on the park at any one time.


Yet, nothing really changes in terms of tactics. If a coach wants to roll his subs he can still do it at as many stoppages as he likes. It's just that it can't be used as a surprise tactic anymore, which is against the whole spirit of the game in any case, which is for the game on the field to be won or lost by what happens ON the field, not because of sneakily exploiting peripheral events like people coming on and off the ground.

[Bumper Bulldogs]

I cant understand what all the fuss is about. The AFL have added a second interchange person (one for each Team) so why cant they do their Job and watch the players coming on and off. If we get rid of the paper work side all parties would be happy.
I'm sure we all have watched the players come on and off and can keep our minds set for the basic principle of one for one.
I would think that a footy ball club is like a business and they should be accountable for their our Business and interchanges!!!

[LostDoggy]

If we had interchanges ONLY when the ball went dead, or at a clear stoppage, that would eliminate most of the issues that we're faced with:
I believe that would be ridiculous. With 200 or so changes between the teams, and not as many stoppages.
It will definetely slow the game. Add 2 to 3 minutes per quarter.

The easiest system is a card system. Can't play with a card in your hand. What the AFL proposed in the new rule works better but its typcial over the top red tape makes it confusing. I don't think it will stop eager players running on early or staying on extra.
A card system would.

[ledge]

I just cant believe the League has come to this, its so easy.. eg I am a player waiting to go on, i wait until a player comes off!
Oh my god even when i was under 12s it was easy, how about the players use their nous for once.

[LostDoggy]

I just cant believe the League has come to this, its so easy.. eg I am a player waiting to go on, i wait until a player comes off!
Oh my god even when i was under 12s it was easy, how about the players use their nous for once.

Even at under 12 the kids were eager to get on and could jumped the gun.
Unless there are stewards holding people back it won't work.

[Go_Dogs]

The new rules are a joke, and I think it's ridiculous it has come to this. All you need to be able to do is count to 4, one steward for both teams would be enough and the free kick thing is going to be ridiculous if strictly enforced.

[ledge]

Even at under 12 the kids were eager to get on and could jumped the gun.
Unless there are stewards holding people back it won't work.

Well at 11 years old i was playing at Crossroads and it wasnt from a smart suburb and we had no problem doing it.
Its adults here not children.
Maybe if they are that stupid we could hang a sign by a skyhook above the interchange saying ..do not cross line until a teammate has crossed going the other way.

[LostDoggy]

With the old system no one waited til the player going off was fully off the ground. It was assumed they would eventually come off. This was not the case in the Swans v North game and a few others already just this season.
The new system is not going to stop as the player coming off has no requirement other than coming off.

Even a clock on off system would work better.

[LostDoggy]

Can somebody please explain to me why the numbers of the players changing needs to be recorded?

Surely this is in the category of "Useless Information"

[ledge]

Can somebody please explain to me why the numbers of the players changing needs to be recorded?

Surely this is in the category of "Useless Information"

Yeah more figures rubbish for the sake of figures so the comentators can say how long a player played.
Have a listen to commentators now 90% is figures, who cares! Just call the game.
History of figures means jack.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Have 4 batons in a box beside the bench. When it's your turn to go on you pick one up and hand it to the bloke coming off who puts it back in the box.

I know they're footballers but it doesn't take a lot of brains.

[LostDoggy]

Have 4 batons in a box beside the bench. When it's your turn to go on you pick one up and hand it to the bloke coming off who puts it back in the box.

I know they're footballers but it doesn't take a lot of brains.

The ruckman might still struggle :D

[Mantis]

Been reported that 8 teams broke the rules this past week in 'trial mode' which would have resulted in free kicks/ 50m being paid on 9 occassions. (not to sure on exact figures)

Also reported that if the rules were adherred to that the result of the WB v FRE game probably would have changed.

Did anyone pick up any of these indiscretions during the coverage or even for those who went to the game?

[aker39]

Would have been the Dockers only inside 50 for the last 15 minutes of the game

[Topdog]

If we are honest we know that players arent THAT stupid.

They know when they can come on and off. This extra paperwork is bullshit.

It was a problem this week, there will be 3-4 free kicks next week.

Coach will scream at players. Following week no free kicks. Week after that, we never hear about this for the next 5 years.

[LostDoggy]

I believe that would be ridiculous. With 200 or so changes between the teams, and not as many stoppages.
It will definetely slow the game. Add 2 to 3 minutes per quarter.

Maybe it would slow the game down.

But maybe there'll be more considered changes rather than 22 guys literally streaming through an interchange bench. Maybe we'll see a return to 18 on 18, where toughness and the ability to work your way through fatigue and through a match to beat your direct opponent would become important again, instead of just being able to run off the ground when you were tired. Maybe there WON'T be 200 interchanges a match because of the extra time it would mean. And most sports already have changes only at stoppages and it doesn't affect the game. What's so ridiculous about it?

I just hate the idea of the location of the bloody interchange bench being a tactical consideration ie. a guy can get a touch because he runs off the ground then back on WHILE THE GAME IS STILL RUNNING, thus making one wing far more dominant than the other at any given time. THAT'S ridiculous. The interchange bench is NOT a part of the bloody field.

(And an extra two to three minutes a quarter is a pretty huge assumption.)

HOWEVER, the card suggestion is a great one.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Personally, I'd rather see it get cut back to two interchange players and two reserves.

If you're replaced by a reserve you can't come back on.

[hujsh]

Personally, I'd rather see it get cut back to two interchange players and two reserves.

If you're replaced by a reserve you can't come back on.

If we had players replaced permanently i would want an AFL doctor confirming there is some sort of injury so that you aren't just replacing players due to bad form.

[Sockeye Salmon]

If we had players replaced permanently i would want an AFL doctor confirming there is some sort of injury so that you aren't just replacing players due to bad form.

Not possible.

Just like the old reserves, the player who has been replaced has a shower - can't come back. It will almost always be used to cover an injury until the last quarter when it becomes another tactical decision the coach will have to make.

The player who has gone on can take his turn on the interchange just like everyone else.

[westdog54]

I'm gravely concerned about this coming round.

It has the potential to be one of the greatest farces in the history of our game.

[The Coon Dog]

AFL about-face over interchange (http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/afl-aboutface-over-interchange/2008/05/27/1211654037442.html)

Caroline Wilson | May 28, 2008

THE AFL is set for an embarrassing backflip over its complex changes to the player interchange system.

The Age believes that executive-level talks at the competition's headquarters yesterday have resulted in the decision to dump a key element of the new system only two weeks after it was introduced.

The AFL's football operations boss, Adrian Anderson, is believed to have taken the in-principle decision to remove the most controversial element of the new procedure where an interchange steward must provide the numbers of the players coming on and off the field before the exchange is made.

While the decision is not yet final, the AFL met late yesterday with statisticians Champion Data, the group that will again record the interchanges and provide the resources informing the game's governing body as to how long players have spent on and off the playing arena.

Round nine proved the first official test of the new rules, implemented after Sydney in round seven became the first club during the home-and-away season to have 19 players on the field, a mistake that could have cost the Swans all of their points for the game.

Not only did a mistake by the AFL's interchange steward at the West Coast-Adelaide match last weekend result in a free kick and a 50-metre penalty awarded to the Crows, but seven clubs are believed to be facing fines under the new system that several teams — notably Sydney and Collingwood among the most vocal — have slammed as embarrassing and unworkable.

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou is believed to have voiced some concerns with the system that will continue to award a free kick and a 50-metre penalty to clubs that transgress but looks certain to no longer insist upon the post-it note system that was changed after round seven to ensure players coming on and off the ground were recorded before the exchange took place.

The primary concern for the AFL in recording the players' numbers was designed to ensure the whereabouts of four resting interchange players who might have blood-rule issues, be undergoing treatment in the changerooms, going to the bathroom or — in stretcher cases — must remain off the field for at least 20 minutes.

Despite the backflip, which should be presented as a refinement of the new rule and could be put in place as early as this weekend, the interchange holding area will remain the same and the AFL will continue to provide an interchange steward for each club at every game.

It is not known whether the seven clubs that transgressed over the most recent round of football will be fined, given the AFL's apparent change of heart.

Demetriou and Anderson were unavailable for comment last night.

[Sockeye Salmon]

That would be the first time in history that the AFL have admitted that they ****ed up.

Now, if they could only admit and fix the other 400 ****ups they've put in place.

[Go_Dogs]

That would be the first time in history that the AFL have admitted that they ****ed up.

Now, if they could only admit and fix the other 400 ****ups they've put in place.

Had to happen, the rule is a joke. Typical AFL overreaction, hopefully now they can the whole idea not just the number taking element.

[LostDoggy]

Should have gone a simpler option I personaly like the card sytem. Player on the bench have a card and as the player comes off they get the card off the player comming on. Simple but effective.

As previously stated by Ernie.

[Topdog]

Thats it muttley.

Have the cards numbered 1,2,3,4 to make it easy to know which numbers replaced which for the statisticians and it is too easy.

[LostDoggy]

Simplicity is the key that way it is cut and dry and not left open to interpretation. I know there are many rules open to interpretation however this is one that can be clear cut.

[LostDoggy]

So whats the new change?
They so they losing the post it notes and replacing it with 'new technology'.
I assume thats some sort of clocking on and off.

Trust the AFL to stuff up something that should be really simple.

[hujsh]

The post it notes were dumb.

How you right it down when its raining i don't know.

This should stop the holdup on the benches waiting for it to be written down

[LostDoggy]

The card system would have worked fine. Write in to the AFL Ernie and get those muppets at headquarters to use their brains for once.

Maybe copyright the idea so you get royalties every time an interchange is made.