Six-man bench a must: Wallace

[one-eyed]

Six-man bench a must: Wallace
11:39:00 AM Sun 12 March, 2006
Andrew Browne
Sportal for afl.com.au

Richmond coach Terry Wallace has declared that if the AFL wants to keep the competition "dynamic" then the modern game is "absolutely overdue" for a six-man interchange bench.

He added that if the extended bench was not introduced then the game runs the risk of player burnout with taller players becoming increasingly rare as smaller, pacy types will be preferred by clubs to keep up with the run.

"If you want to watch dynamic football you need to have fresh players to play dynamic football," said Wallace after the Tigers easily accounted for Sydney by 40 points in their NAB Challenge match at Carrara on Saturday night.

"If you want the game to fall away as a spectacle, then have blokes out there who are absolutely stuffed."

His comments come on the back of a staggering 112 interchanges made by both teams in relatively mild conditions by Gold Coast standards, with Richmond nudging ahead of the Swans 59 to 53.

That tally follows 133 recorded between the Kangaroos and Geelong in the previous week's NAB Cup quarter-final, but that game was played in the more humid climate of Cairns with eight players permitted on the sidelines in those conditions.

The Tigers used 25 players at Carrara with 24 for the reigning premiers which still compares favourably to earlier in the day when 56 players took part in the searing heat of Adelaide - Port Adelaide using 31 players and Brisbane 25.

Most observers feel the pace of the game is quicker and Wallace tends to disagree with the AFL's viewpoint that an extended interchange will lead to increased collisions or impact injuries.

"If you don't (increase the bench) you are going to have blokes who are stressed out and have overuse injuries instead," he said.

"The game is at the stage now where we are absolutely overdue for six interchange."

The Tigers coach admitted he has done a backflip on the proposal having previously been in favour of players wanting to play, but says that in the modern game "players cannot continue to keep playing at a standard that keeps the game where we want to watch it."

Wallace claimed that if the consensus is to have more run in the game then you have to have more runners and four specialist midfielders is not enough to keep up with the rotations. That scenario means pacier smaller-type players being required instead of slower talls.

"It will probably cost one our bigger blokes a place in the side because we want to keep the run up in the game but you can't do that if one of the spots is for a tall," he said.

"It is actually restricting the amount of talls that can play the game which I don't think is a good thing either."

http://afl.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=250610

[one-eyed]

Bench stays at four despite fatigue fear
By Lyall Johnson
The Age
March 13, 2006

The AFL has no plans to increase the number of interchange players to six for the premiership season, despite comments by Richmond coach Terry Wallace that the game is becoming too fast for players.

After Wallace and Sydney coach Paul Roos made 112 interchanges between them during their sides' practice match at Carrara on Saturday night, the Tigers' mentor said he feared the game would become less of a spectacle as players struggled to keep up.

"You need to have fresh players on the field to have dynamic football," Wallace said.

"The game is getting quicker all the time and you don't want it to fall away as a spectacle and have guys out there who are absolutely stuffed because the game doesn't stop."

But a spokesman for the AFL's general manager of football operations, Adrian Anderson, said the changes made last November to the kick-in rule were designed to speed up the game and tire players out in order to limit high-speed collisions and create more contests.

"There hasn't been any discussion about increasing the size of the bench for the premiership season, but we have consistently played with an extra two for the pre-season for eight to 10 years now," the spokesman said.

"The whole point of the rule changes is that you want blokes out on the field who are actually tired so you have more one-on-one or two-on-two contests because blokes can't run up the ground all day long.

"You don't want six fresh players off the bench so then they can run into each other at high speed. We've gone this way because we don't want high-impact collision injuries because you have guys at full pace running into each other."

Wallace said tired players would become "stressed", and there was a risk of overuse injuries as a result of the increased workload. "The game is at a stage where we're absolutely overdue for six interchange players," he said. "Honestly, I've always been a person of the opposite view, but the players now can't play at a standard which keeps the game where we want to watch it.

"They can't physically do it with the running. I think that's where we need to go."

The AFL spokesman said the AFL's laws-of-the-game committee would meet during the season and again at the end of the year to assess how well the new kick-in rule was operating.

http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2006/03/12/1142098345640.html

[mightytiges]

"If you want to watch dynamic football you need to have fresh players to play dynamic football," said Wallace.
 
"If you want the game to fall away as a spectacle, then have blokes out there who are absolutely stuffed."

A 6 man bench would probably advantage sides like us who have recruited many speedy 6'3" running types so I can see where Tezza is coming from but I don't necessarily agree that the spectacle will fall away as the players get tired. It use to be common place 20-30+ years ago for guys to be absolutely stuffed towards the end of a game and it was still exciting to watch. Nearly every week you'd hear Lou Richards in the commentary box say "all these blokes are darn tired" late in the last quarter of a close game. Footballers are professional now and super fit but the ultra-flooding non-contested footy in many games now is crap to watch. Let them get tired and see who has the stamina to outlast their opponent.

[Tiger Spirit]

"If you want to watch dynamic football you need to have fresh players to play dynamic football," said Wallace.
 
"If you want the game to fall away as a spectacle, then have blokes out there who are absolutely stuffed."

A 6 man bench would probably advantage sides like us who have recruited many speedy 6'3" running types so I can see where Tezza is coming from but I don't necessarily agree that the spectacle will fall away as the players get tired. It use to be common place 20-30+ years ago for guys to be absolutely stuffed towards the end of a game and it was still exciting to watch. Nearly every week you'd hear Lou Richards in the commentary box say "all these blokes are darn tired" late in the last quarter of a close game. Footballers are professional now and super fit but the ultra-flooding non-contested footy in many games now is crap to watch. Let them get tired and see who has the stamina to outlast their opponent.

Absolutely MT.   It all seems to be about the process and sticking to the game plan.  Fair enough, can understand that, to a degree.  But at least once in a while, let’s see the true footy players do their stuff.  Who cares how fast a player is if he isn’t able to get the footy and use it to advantage, under pressure?  Not all of us want to see 100 metre sprints all day long.  Some of us want actual contests, with real footballers playing real football.  If I want athletics then I’ll go to the Commonwealth Games.

When players get tired, it then comes down to footy nous and who wants it the most.  That mix makes for the best and most exciting football you will want to see.  Maybe it’s just me, but this rotation of players is part of the clinical and robotic system that can take so much away from the development of players and the game itself.

"If you want to watch dynamic football you need to have fresh players to play dynamic football," said Wallace.
 
"If you want the game to fall away as a spectacle, then have blokes out there who are absolutely stuffed."

That’s one side of the coin, but you just wonder how much better players and the game could be if things weren’t all so driven by systems and processes all the time.

What about letting players learn, on the football field, about initiative, work ethic, and seeing if they can ‘dig deep’ when the situation calls for an extra effort.  Isn’t that what it’s about for players?  And isn’t that what coaching is all about?

Instead, some coaches seem happy to stick to their processes and trust they’ll bring them results.  Never mind if the game’s boring and uninspiring, as long as they get the right result, that’s all that seems to matter to them.  Is it any wonder players are stuffed, only not in the way they seem to think.

[mightytiges]

What about letting players learn, on the football field, about initiative, work ethic, and seeing if they can ‘dig deep’ when the situation calls for an extra effort.  Isn’t that what it’s about for players?  And isn’t that what coaching is all about?

And the footballers with top endurance and mental toughness get punished because they lose that advantage against rotating midfielders who go in short bursts. 

[Tiger Spirit]

And the footballers with top endurance and mental toughness get punished because they lose that advantage against rotating midfielders who go in short bursts.

Yep, and I just reckon that, even though such tactics may be effective and have a place in the game, they take away so much of what sport is all about and the reasons you love to watch it.

[thetigerman]

 Sorry Terry, no need for a 6 man bench.
 Hope you're not getting as senile as Sheedy.

[mightytiges]

Hope you're not getting as senile as Sheedy.

When Terry thinks recruiting Camporeale and Heffernan is a good idea then we should be worried  .

And the footballers with top endurance and mental toughness get punished because they lose that advantage against rotating midfielders who go in short bursts.

Yep, and I just reckon that, even though such tactics may be effective and have a place in the game, they take away so much of what sport is all about and the reasons you love to watch it.

Agree TS, we need a mixture of both the modern fast running style and the old-fashioned dorect footy with contested marks and speccies. We don't want to go back to purely old fashioned positional footy off 30-40 years ago either as its slow and predictable. How you get that right balance is what everyone is scratching their head over.

[bluey_21]

Sorry Terry, no need for a 6 man bench.
 Hope you're not getting as senile as Sheedy.

Forget a 6 man bench and go back to last years rules. then we wouldn't have this problem

[letsgetiton!]

if we want to see rawfooty  again, stick to a four man bench, and limit the amount moves off the bench. should be more like soccer, once ur off u cant come back on.

going back to traditional footy, ur best 18 wee playing and 19 ans 20  were the bench , they only got a run  if players were injured, many players named on the bench hardly got a game, maybe 10 minutes at the end.

when teams tire the one on one contests will be back!
 4 man bench. once a player comes off, thats it so i guess u can male 4 moves a game. !

[mightytiges]

if we want to see rawfooty  again, stick to a four man bench, and limit the amount moves off the bench. should be more like soccer, once ur off u cant come back on.

going back to traditional footy, ur best 18 wee playing and 19 ans 20  were the bench , they only got a run  if players were injured, many players named on the bench hardly got a game, maybe 10 minutes at the end.

when teams tire the one on one contests will be back!
 4 man bench. once a player comes off, thats it so i guess u can male 4 moves a game. !

I agree X that would work although I not really a fan of full match substitutes. I would still allow some interchanges but limit the number allowed or make it a substitution that lasts for a set period so you no longer get this continual rotation on and off the bench. With substitutes coaches would also need to become managers like in soccer where you don't play your best players on the park every week to keep them fresh. The depth of your club's list would become even more crucial.