New Interchange rule too be trialed in the NAB Cup

The NAB Cup is the AFL’s experimental competition where it can trial, what they would like to say are improvements to the game of Australian Rules Football, mind you many would argue the complete opposite. The 2008 NAB Cup looks like it will follow similar lines as in previous years. It has been announced that during this years NAB Cup there will be a cap of 16 interchange rotations per quarter and 64 per match, and also the number of interchange players will go up from 6 to 8.

The AFL are hell bent on slowing the game down and it has been previously reported that they are undertaking a research project into whether there is a link between injury and the increased use of the interchange bench. Adrian Anderson has been quoted as saying:

“The suggestion is that because of the increased use of the interchange the players are hitting each other harder, are moving at top speeds for longer and more likely to suffer collision injuries but we really need to look at that in-depth to see if the theory holds true,”

From a spectators point of view I don’t think there is any need to change the speed of the game and I am sure if there was a survey conducted amongst the AFL players they would say a similar thing. But I guess the AFL have a duty of care to up hold and that looks like the direction they are heading.

It will be interested to watch how this effects teams like Collingwood and Sydney who in last years elimination final used the bench an extraordinary 174 times. There will need to be some new coaching strategies put in place and if the rule comes into the main competition it will be a race between the coaching staffs of the clubs to see who can come up with another work around.

Bring on the start of the season !!!