Miller's Guide: Red vest for the sub
Paul Roos hates it.
First-year senior coaches Phil Walsh and Luke Beveridge want rid of it.
Even the AFL is now open to scrapping it.
It is the substitute rule and it appears high time for the competition’s decision makers to call time on one of the more contentious rules in the league’s history.
The sub was introduced for the 2011 season, ironically with considerable support from the fraternity of AFL coaches.
At the time, the loss of a player to a match-ending injury early in a game was viewed as a major tactical disadvantage given the trend towards heavy rotations.
Four seasons on and widely respected coaches like Roos have become highly critical of the amount of planning required to choose the sub each week.
We have even seen champions like Adam Goodes reduced to being given the green vest.
The sub is firmly on the nose and the most obvious, and workable, answer lies with tweaking the rotation cap.
This is the second year of having rotations capped at 120 per team.
Reducing the cap further in 2016 to 80 rotations should be firmly on the agenda.
The move, in conjunction with scrapping the substitute rule, should guarantee that even when a team loses a player early in a game the opposition won’t be able to unfairly exploit the loss through excessive rotations off the interchange bench.
The tougher cap should also mean a team’s best players staying on the ground for longer.
Midfielders would be rotated forward more often for their rest. Imagine the likes of Patrick Dangerfield, Nat Fyfe or Dustin Martin exchanging their time on the bench for time deep in attack as a goal kicking option.
More players will need to compete under fatigue, meaning the likelihood of retaining more traditional one-on-one match-ups.
And the frustrating spectacle of watching a player run to the bench after kicking a team-boosting goal would also become a rarer sight.
The return of a four-player interchange bench would also suit the traditionalist in many of us concerned about the national game getting away from what has always made it great.
Stricter testing around concussion shouldn’t have to change under an 80 rotation limit. Three players on the bench should be more than enough given coaches won’t have the same luxury to swing the changes for extra midfield run.
There will always be cases where injury places added pressure on a team in matches.
Take Fremantle against Melbourne at the MCG on Sunday as an example.
The Dockers lost Matthew Pavlich and Michael Walters to concussion in the first half, effectively leaving them with two on the bench after half time even with the sub.
They responded by asking players like David Mundy to spend more time forward. Mundy finished with two goals and Fremantle still won by 68 points.
Some of the most memorable results in recent AFL history hinge on a side overcoming injury to pull off a remarkable win.
A young Hawthorn team lost Trent Croad and Clinton Young before half time in the 2008 AFL grand final three years before the sub was introduced.
The result? A shock premiership win against red-hot favourites Geelong that would mark the start of one of the modern game’s great dynasties.
The game survived and thrived without the substitute. It’s time to give the rule the red vest once and for all.
Fantasy Fodder
Jordan Lewis and Luke Hodge are not the only ones who will have taken a dose of angry pills. The Hawthorn duo have been point-scoring stars this season, but two reckless acts have left Fantasy coaches fuming. Lewis ($695,000) has
averaged almost 135 points this season and been an automatic lock as my captain since the word go. This means his two-match suspension creates a huge quandary.
If you can spare Lewis, stick him on the bench and try and cover him as best as you can. If not, Brad Ebert ($606,000) must be the go-to man. Just keep enough spare change in the bank to upgrade another midfielder to Lewis as soon as he becomes available again. I wasn’t convinced that Hodge could maintain his Fantasy run anyway, so with the three-game ban I’d be trading him out for now. I like the value of team-mate Grant Birchall ($459,000) as well as Power defender Jasper Pittard ($448,000). Again, just have some cash floating around to trade Hodge back in later in the year.
The Heat’s On...
Justin Leppitsch, followed closely by Damien Hardwick. I said right here a fortnight ago that Brisbane were firmly in the pressure cooker and two more big losses since then haven’t helped. Leppitsch’s physical clash with rookie-listed player Zac O’Brien at half time of a NEAFL match on the weekend may indicate just how bad things have got off the field. Brisbane face Carlton and St Kilda in their next four matches. Unless they manufacture a win over that period, Leppitsch could be the first AFL coach headed for the chopping block this season. Hardwick also has every right to be looking over his shoulder. Richmond are 2-3 after one of the softest draws to start the season for any club. The Tigers have shown little appetite for the contest. If there is no turnaround over coming months, Hardwick’s contract until the end of 2016 may not save him.
Top Tweet
Brian Lake, @BrianLake17
“What a ground ball from Easton Wood with 5 seconds to go! Awesome game.”
The dual Hawthorn premiership defender shows there is still plenty of love for his old club.
