THE revolving door of an AFL team's interchange bench has increased dramatically over the past six seasons.
Since 2004, when there was an average of 30 interchanges per team each game, to 59 interchanges in 2007, and the figure has risen to a whopping 111 in the opening three round of this season.
Modern-day players are now told to bring themselves off the ground after seven or eight minutes of high intensity effort.
It would be impossible for two runners to send out enough messages to make 111 rotations happen.
It is therefore left up to the initiative of every player to know when it is time to rest.
My North Melbourne teammates are instructed to do this on a match day.
Coach Brad Scott spent a lot of time pre-season educating us on when the time is right to go off.
Watch when a goal is kicked.
You will often see five players running to the bench.
With only four replacements possible, the slowest to react must stay on.
This rotation mainly occurs through our midfield players.
A stint on the bench will only last three or four minutes.
No longer is it seen as a weakness to go off.
It is a mechanism to keep players fresh for four quarters.
This is why we now see AFL games remaining at top pace longer than in previous years.
The speed and intensity of the fourth quarter no longer drops away.
It is a battle of the fittest until the final siren.
Within our team we do have a couple of serial offenders who take themselves off after three or four minutes of work.
Our coach is educating players on the importance of lasting a little longer.
Theses offenders will remain nameless, but it illustrates the skill needed to understand your body's limits on the field.
The only ones who do not have the choice of coming off when they feel like it are our tall key-position players.
That includes myself.
When I first started at North Melbourne, the only time you would go on or off the ground was when the coach, via the runner, told you so.
Never under Denis Pagan would you take yourself off the ground.
That was to be frowned upon and a stint in the reserves would be sure to follow.
PUSHING ourselves faster for longer periods can sometimes mean more chance of damage.
When your body is tired, it does not function at peak capacity and sometimes that can result in injury.
Although collision injuries only make up a small percentage of AFL injuries, a tired body can also result in a lapse of concentration and the result can be devastating.
Stress fractures and soft tissue injuries are often not caused by game-day situations.
For the five months of pre season, where AFL players finely tune their bodies, it is often the over-training which causes these problems.
Injuries already have some clubs under the pumps.
In some cases, 20 per cent lists had injury issues at the beginning of the season.
Adelaide and the Western Bulldogs have been by far the worst hit, with 10 out of their senior lists of 40 injured at the moment.
ASK DREW
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE IDEA OF HAVING SUBSTITUTES TO COVER THE LOSS OF BADLY INJURED PLAYERS ON MATCH DAYS?
The substitute system was trialled in the pre-season NAB Cup.
I believe it should be introduced next season or 2012.
The AFL will not add more players to the interchange, but substitutes would ensure a level playing field.
DO YOU HAVE THOUGHTS ON THE VERBAL CLASH BETWEEN MICK MALTHOUSE AND STEPHEN MILNE?
I know Mick is connected in Ballarat, so I will leave that one alone.
What I can confirm is Stephen Milne is a cheeky little bugger who gets on your nerves quite easily.
SHOULD MOBILE PHONES BE ALLOWED TO ASSIST WITH THE COACHING PROCESS ON MATCH DAYS?
I don't agree with it at all.
The AFL took the appropriate action in fining the West Coast Eagles $5000 for using a mobile phone to get messages to their ruckman against North Melbourne.
I cannot see any advantage in using them in any way.
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