Wallace wants 24-player teams
Caroline Wilson | April 1, 2008
RICHMOND coach Terry Wallace has revealed his radical proposal to deal with the rotational revolution, which would allow teams to field up to two emergencies a game, increasing the number of players to 24.
In a paper Wallace plans to present to the AFL this month, the Tigers' coach will argue that the use of interchange players has transformed to the degree that football matches have become contests between two teams of 22 players.
"If you lose two blokes before half-time you just don't win the game," Wallace told The Age last night.
"If you lose one you are far less likely to win the game and what we want to see is an even contest.
"I'm really quite passionate about it because I don't like to see a game impacted because somebody's got hurt," he said.
Wallace was initially unwilling to reveal details of his paper when contacted last night but admitted he had been working on his presentation for some weeks and had planned to go through official AFL channels before making his proposal public.
Under the Wallace plan, teams would name 22 players along with two emergencies who could take the field if one of the original 22 was taken from the ground for the remainder of the match.
His plan received cautious support last night from Brisbane Lions coach Leigh Matthews, who spoke after the Lions' clash with Collingwood about the Magpies' number of interchange rotations. Collingwood used a record 110 interchanges during the game.
"I'm not saying I'm pushing for change but I think the discussion's worth having," said Matthews. "It's 22 players versus 22 and if you lose a player for the match through injury then it becomes 22 versus 21 and you are at a distinct disadvantage," he added.
Wallace has suggested a red-card system whereby a player was permanently removed from the field. Under his proposal the removal would not necessarily have to be through injury because — as Wallace and Matthews agreed — the system could be too easily manipulated.
"It would add another interesting, colourful aspect to the game in my view and would create another talking point," Wallace said.
"The discussion could be over whether you put a key tall in as an emergency or a couple of good runners.
"The way we are moving at the moment we have to look at a solution in one of two ways. Either we restrict the interchange or you don't allow the interchange to completely change the shape of the game and the result.
"Look at round one. Collingwood versus Fremantle and Fremantle lose Heath Black, who is crucial to their midfield, and by losing him they lose 25% of their rotational ability.
"We played Sydney in a practice game in the pre-season and we lost Troy Simmonds and (Jay) Schulz and (Graham) Polak but we had six or seven on the interchange bench and we managed to win. We would have lost that game under the current rules."
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