By Jon Pierik
Luke McDonald remembers all too well the AFL’s green-vest days, and a certain Western Bulldogs substitute who would create trouble as soon as he was injected into the action.
That Bulldog was the silky Daniel Giansiracusa, a man who knew where the goals were.
“He would always come on and kick a couple of goals,” said McDonald, North Melbourne’s freshly minted co-captain.
Former Hawk and Saint Shane Savage provided leg speed and carry when used as a substitute in the league’s green vest days. Credit: Pat Scala
The green-vest days were between 2011 and 2015, when there were three men on the bench plus a substitute - the latter able to be activated at any point for any reason in the game.
Having had four men on the bench, plus a medical substitute, over the past two years, the AFL will this season go back to the future, realising it was too hard to monitor whether clubs were fairly replacing injured players, who could be sidelined for 12 days as per the guidelines, or whether the ruling was being abused.
Before its hasty introduction on the eve of the 2021 season, the prospect of a medical sub was seen as a way to ensure teams were not disadvantaged should a player be concussed, but upon its introduction a substitute could replace any injured player.
However, there were suspicions teams too often replaced a player late in the game when needing greater run, and not because a player was injured to the point he could no longer remain on the field.
Port Adelaide was one of the clubs under the spotlight early last season when substituted players returned the following week three times over the opening seven rounds. A substitute could be activated during games if the club doctor had “reasonably determined” an injured player would miss 12 days. However, if the player healed over the ensuing days, that player could play the following weekend, provided the club had sent an updated medical report.
Daniel Giansiracusa playing for the Western Bulldogs in 2013.Credit: Sebastian Costanzo
That happened more than a dozen times early in the season, and continued throughout, suggesting players weren’t always seriously injured, and the rule was being used to allow a player with fresh legs to take to the field late in a game.
“By the end of last year it was sort of used like that anyway, when people were coming off with certain injuries,” McDonald said.
“I think it’s fine now as long as everyone is playing with an even keel. It’s something we haven’t thought of too much but, no doubt, when we start getting into praccy (practice) games, it’s going to be something that we have to trial.”
The decision to add a 24th round - the Gather Round in round five - this year, and the potential welfare issues surrounding this, added to a push by clubs to allow a substitute to be activated for any reason.
One senior football department chief said the new ruling could help veteran players manage what is seen as a “marathon” campaign, given they may not necessarily need to rest by missing entire matches because their minutes could be restricted if they were subbed off - provided this mechanism was not needed for an injured teammate.
The new ruling should also reduce the number of players who sit idle for the entire match. Remember, the Demons followed the letter of the law in the 2021 grand final, and substitute James Jordon did not take to the field. He was still awarded a premiership medallion.
Just when a substitute is injected will add to the tactical game of chess.
“If there aren’t injuries, do you wait for the other team to make their move first, or do you do what your team needs at a certain point?” one football department figure said.
A senior football department head said teams would be particularly keen to add speed on the wings and half-forward, pointing out that, by early in the third term, many onballers would have covered close to seven kilometres and might be starting to wane. However, he pointed out clubs may try something different.
“Some clubs may try to do something with their rucks,” he said.
Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell said this week he was wondering how best to squeeze two, possibly, three front-line big men capable of rucking into his team, pointing out that Ned Reeves, Max Lynch and former Docker Lloyd Meek all offered different skills.
From 2011 to 2015, Champion Data statistics show utility Aaron Young, then with Port Adelaide, had the most green-vest starts (21). Former Hawthorn and Geelong utility Jonathan Simpkin (20), former Hawk and Saint Shane Savage (17), and Giansiracusa (17) also often began on the pine. Simpkin was subbed on at three-quarter-time of the 2013 grand final and became a premiership player.
Savage and Simpkin provided run and carry. Alastair Clarkson, then coaching Hawthorn, clearly saved what he wanted up his sleeve, given Hawks ruckman-forward David Hale (14) was subbed off more than any other player and handed the red vest.
Geelong star Mark Blicavs is the embodiment of the ideal substitute - but he is needed for an entire game.Credit: Getty Images
Midfielder Xavier Ellis, who left Hawthorn and joined West Coast after the 2013 season, Richmond tall Ben Griffiths, and Fremantle tall Matt Taberner were subbed off 11 times, while another Hawk, ruckman Max Bailey, was replaced 10 times. That Geelong ruckman Dawson Simpson, Crow and Swan Kurt Tippett, and North Melbourne tall Lachie Hansen were also replaced 10 times reinforced that big men were often in danger of not finishing a game.
Under the AFL’s latest ruling, vests will no longer be worn, but will Clarkson, now at North Melbourne, adopt the same approach, perhaps meaning veteran ruckman Todd Goldstein finds himself having a shortened afternoon?
Players who were activated the most as substitutes in 2022
5: Jake Aarts (Richmond)
5: Bailey Banfield (Fremantle)
4: Matthew Cottrell (Carlton)
4: Greg Clark (West Coast)
3: Mitch Robinson (Brisbane Lions)
3: Xavier O’Halloran (GWS)
3: Rory Atkins (Gold Coast)
3: Ben Long (St Kilda)
3: Atu Bosenavulagi (North Melbourne)
3: Jason Castagna (Richmond)
Source: Champion Data
Clubs acknowledge the ideal substitute would, as one club official said, have “Swiss army knife” qualities - and there’s none better than Mark Blicavs. The Geelong premiership star can play key position, in the ruck, or on the ball, but a player of his magnitude, of course, will start the game.
Therefore, the general feeling - at this point - is that clubs will want a player with leg speed and/or grunt to fiercely contest when others are tiring, or the ability to create and score and even provide a match-turning burst, as their substitute.
How the new substitute rule works
- Clubs will still name a starting sub when they finalise their teams an hour before the first bounce, in addition to the four interchange players.
- The starting sub must sit in the rear row of the interchange bench, wearing a club-branded top that is not their playing guernsey. There will be no substitute’s vest or any other coloured top.
- Substitutes can play in a state-league competition on the same weekend, subject to the club’s discretion and the relevant state league’s rules.
- The interchange cap remains the same, at 75 rotations per game.
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