Brian Taylor says the AFL must cut back on interchange rotations to combat congestion
Brian Taylor has been involved in football for the past 40 years. So when he says the game’s leaders need to act or risk fans walking away, the AFL better take notice. Find out BT’s plan to save the game.
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Leading football commentator Brian Taylor has delivered a passionate plea to the AFL to cut back on interchange rotations to combat congestion.
Taylor, 57, has been involved at AFL/VFL level for the past 40 years since arriving at Richmond in 1979 as a teenage goal-kicking sensation from Mandurah in Western Australia.
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“I worry about our game because it isn’t a great look having so many players in a small area. We have to get this right because we only have a certain amount of time before people start dropping off,” said Taylor, who played 140 games with Richmond and Collingwood between 1980-90.
“Let’s start by reducing the interchange rotations to 10 a quarter and see how it looks in some trial games in the pre-season.
“What I hope it would do is slow the game down, and get away from the current situation where every player on the field is within a kick of the footy.
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“They have the fitness to get there and the fitness to apply pinpoint tackling in highly-congested area.”
AFL football boss Steve Hocking on Tuesday expressed a desire to reduce tackling numbers so “it’s (tackling) not a feature of our game”.
But Hocking has also been consistent in saying the AFL is not currently looking at reducing interchange numbers from the current figure of 90 per game.
Taylor is disappointed no reduction has been tried, claiming it would significantly improve the look of the game.
“Reducing rotations would force players to stay longer in their designated positions because they wouldn’t have the opportunity to rest which they currently have,” he said.
“It would spread players over the ground further. I’m amazed that keeps receiving push-back from the AFL and players.
“I’ve heard players such as Patrick Dangerfield say it isn’t the answer.
“I would argue they haven’t experienced it so they can’t make those comparisons. And many of them would have no idea what it used to look like.
“Trial it in the pre-season competition, which has seen countless other ridiculous rules trialled which are never going to get up. Why wouldn’t they do it?
“This particular rule change doesn’t interfere with the fabric of the game, because guess what, it’s where we’ve been before?
“I’m not someone who normally wants to go backwards, but in this case we know what the game looked like when we had 40 rotations, and it looked better.
“The 6-6-6 has had no bearing on forcing players to remain in their positions. It has had (an impact) on the closing stages of games, yes, but that’s five minutes of our game as distinct from this rule which could change the whole game.”
WHAT THE LEAGUE LEADERS ARE SAYING ABOUT THE RULES
STEVE HOCKING
* On the interchange: Hocking warned that cutting interchange rotations might not be the answer to reducing congestion.
“One of the issues with it … if you do that, say you take it back to potentially 50 or 60, how would the coaches then deploy their players out on the field?” he told SEN.
“Would they go into a holding pattern within the game and potentially park them behind the ball? We’ve got to be mindful of that.
“I’m not sure that’s the panacea that everyone talks about.
“We are doing some work on the interchange piece, but it’s not something that’s a leading piece for us.”
*On tackling: Hocking said the AFL wants to see fewer tackles in games.
There were 161 tackles last weekend in the clash between Geelong and St Kilda at GMHBA Stadium, and 148 tackles in the Port Adelaide-Brisbane match.
“We want it to be a contested game but 160-plus tackles in a game, I’m not sure that’s what the fans want,” he said. “We want some space.”
CHRIS SCOTT
* On the interchange: “I am open minded about it,” Geelong coach Chris Scott said of potentially cutting back on rotations.
“With some of the rule changes, including the reduction in interchange numbers, the forecast changes haven’t necessarily come to pass.
“Having some consideration for the unintended consequences is important as well.
“But I think the smart people in the industry have moved way past ‘let’s just do nothing’.
“It is incumbent with the people charged with the responsibility to continue to look at ways where we can improve.
“If we stand still, we might be in a position where it is really hard to unwind the parts we don’t like.”
DAMIEN HARDWICK
* On the interchange: Hardwick has stood firm in his belief the game needs to be left alone.
He said reducing interchange numbers again would mean teams would only become more defensive minded.
“There was probably a feeling amongst people out there that ever since we did introduce the interchange cap, the scoring reduced as well,” Hardwick said at Punt Road on Thursday.
“We can lessen the interchange cap, but the reality is there will be more flooding.
“I think we just let the game settle for a while and stop tinkering with the rules,” he added.
“My preference would be to start eliminating rules. There’s so many.”
* On tackling: “Just let the game sort itself out,” Hardwick said.
Asked if he thought player safety was a reason to clamp down on the number of tackles, he said players showed a duty of care to their opponents.
“We see that on a weekly basis. Guys know when they’ve got a player in a situation that could be dangerous and I think they limit that.”
SIMON GOODWIN
* On the interchange: Goodwin doubted that cutting rotations would cut back on the high numbers of players around the contest during games.
“Either way you go with rotations there is going to be density (at the contest),” Goodwin said.
“Clearly the AFL don’t like that, and they want to continue to find ways to eradicate that.”
Goodwin revealed his chats with the AFL indicated there would not be any rule changes for a while and the game would be allowed to evolve following the radical changes and interpretations prior to this season.
“If you keep coming back to the core essence of what you want the game to look like, you’ll find the right rule changes,” he said.
“In my chats with Steve Hocking and the AFL, they’re making some good analysis of what changes to make to the game.”
NATHAN BUCKLEY
* On tackling: “I’ve said in the last month or so I think the game’s in really good hands,” Buckley said.
“I think the AFL are collecting the right information, they’re making decisions based on facts and how they can influence the game in a positive manner.
“I think the physicality of the game will always be a part that people want to see and I think there’s got to be a combative element to the game, no doubt.”
Buckley said the game was in good shape, despite negative commentary.
“The balance between offence and defence is still pretty good,” he said.
“It’s probably been a little more dour this year but at the same time the games are really tight, the competition is even.
“There’s plenty that goes into the mix but I think given the advances in the game and the fitness of the players, there’s less gap between the fittest player and the least fittest player.
“The talent level seems to be squeezing between the most talented and the least talented and I think the teams are well coached.
“So I think we’re seeing a game that’s pretty hard to play but is at a pretty good level.”