Match-ups to return: Woosha
Retired West Coast coach John Worsfold says the introduction of an interchange cap this season will see an increase in traditional one-on-one contests in the AFL.
Worsfold, yesterday named as one of four new members of the AFL Laws of the Game Committee, supported the 120 rotation limit before resigning as Eagles coach after last season.
His stance set him apart from many of his colleagues.
Worsfold claimed AFL bosses had made the right move by bringing in the new cap, saying it would force players to spend more time on the one opponent and revive contests like those between Wayne Carey and Glen Jakovich during his 209-game playing career.
"I felt we needed to challenge players to still be fit enough to play out on the ground for longer periods and not just have those bursts on and off," he said.
"I don't think it's going to have any impact on injuries and player welfare. We'll see players matching up on each other. We'll be able to work out where players are playing a bit more again.
"From my day some of the great memories were on the wings - (Chris) Mainwaring on Robert DiPierdomenico. You knew they were just going to be on each other the whole day. One was going to come out on top. On the other wing it was (Peter) Matera on (Darrin) Pritchard and that was going to be a great clash.
"I always thought that was the highlight - match-ups like Jakovich on Carey. That's what we used to talk about."
Worsfold joined 1990 Collingwood premiership defender Michael Christian, former Richmond captain Wayne Campbell and AFL umpiring coach Hayden Kennedy as the 12-person committee's new members.
They replaced Kevin Bartlett, Jeff Gieschen, Rowan Sawers and Peter Schwab.
Worsfold said he always wanted to remain involved with the game after coaching the Eagles for 281 matches.
He accepted the invitation from AFL football operations general manager Mark Evans following an initial discussion just before Christmas.
Worsfold said he would only support changes to the game's laws where they were necessary and was against tinkering with the rules for the sake of it every season.
