Coaching legend Mick Malthouse says AFL should scrap Round 1 points, but Carlton coach David Teague disagrees
His Blues might have been beaten by Richmond in Round 1, but Carlton coach David Teague does not believe the AFL should scrap the results, as called for by triple premiership mentor Mick Malthouse. Here’s why.
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Carlton coach David Teague has disagreed with ex-Blues mentor Mick Malthouse’s call for the AFL to scrap Round 1 results.
The three-time AFL premiership coach wants Round 1 to be treated as a practice match and disregarded when the AFL season resumes after the coronavirus threat subsides.
Malthouse said there would be too big a gap between rounds one and two for the first games, played between March 19 and 22, to be relevant.
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But, despite the Blues’ loss to Richmond, Teague said the result should stand.
“We went out there to win and Richmond were too good on the day so I’m comfortable with them starting with four points and us with zero,” Teague said.
“It’s an interesting one, if you were to go to a 17-round competition and you scrapped that you’d have to find another week as well which might be a challenge.
“I understand the sentiment but we went out and lost so I’m happy to wear it on the chin.”
Some 62 per cent of nearly 2500 respondents in a Herald Sun poll want the Round 1 results to stand.
Speaking on ABC radio Malthouse also warned that even a 17 round season would have an asterisk, called for a top six finals series and warned the AFL against cutting lists to anything lower than 40 because it would penalise interstate clubs like West Coast and Fremantle.
“The round we have currently had has got to be a practice match. I cannot see how we can come back into round two let’s say two months after the first game,” he said.
“Round one should just be considered bad luck if you have had a good win.
“If you lost then it is good luck. It has got to be continuous. You can’t have this big gap going into round two.”
He said a 17 round season was the “bare minimum” but even that was not a genuine AFL season.
“There has still got to be an asterisk because it is not a true reflection of our current football season,” he said.
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Teams with heavy travel loads tended to have more injury problems with players taking longer to recover, he said.
“The travelling sides get harder hit by injuries and not only do they get harder hit, they take longer to recover. They are the ones who have got to suffer here.”
And highly paid players had a “degree of selfishness” when it came to cutting lists and salary caps.
“I cannot possibly believe that we are talking lists of less than 40 players,” he said.
“If there is a reduction in the salary cap.
“Let’s say the AFL says we can only afford $10 million.
“There will be high quality, high numbers, high number of games players will be saying, cut the list to 35 but that is okay, I am staying on my contract and that can fit into the new $10 million.
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“I don’t think some players have a real feel for the 44th and 43rd player, they go well bad luck.”
“I would say it is their bad luck. Fit 40 players into the $10 million cap and if the top player has to go from $1 million down to $750,000 then bad luck.”
“You have got to have 40 players and then let the administrators fit those 40 players into the new salary cap because clearly we can’t afford to keep paying $13 million.”
“I wouldn’t have any more than six teams play off in the finals – the old top six. It is totally compromised.
“Get the season over and done with so it doesn’t start cutting into and interfering with 2021.”
Malthouse further explained his stance on getting the 2020 season finished as early as possible on SEN on Monday.
“I would hate to see 2021 interfered with by 2020,” Malthouse told SEN SA radio on Monday.
“If it means that 2020 becomes a showcase of our game, you don’t want two years to be buggered up, one is bad enough.
“Let’s not muck up the second one as well.
“By going into December, what sides are going to be ready by March next year?
“There’s a lot of things to think about.”