Richmond coach Damien Hardwick admits interchange rule stalled Tigers Brad Elborough
The Age
August 6, 2014 - 4:53PM Richmond coach Damien Hardwick admits it took him some time at the start of the season to come to terms with the AFL’s new interchange rule.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, his ability to adapt to the cap on rotations may have taken a bit too long.
Richmond has won its past five games and has been in good form since round 13, when it lost to Fremantle by just 20 points. The Tigers lost to Sydney by just 11 points the following week before setting off on their current streak of wins.
And in the past seven weeks, Hardwick has made much better use of his interchange bench than he did at the start of the season.
From rounds 13 to 19, the Tigers averaged 114.71 rotations a game – slipping below 112 of the allowed 120 just once, in the round 18 win over West Coast. In that time, the Tigers' opposition has averaged just 107.71 trips to the interchange bench.
However, in the Tigers' first eight games, Hardwick gave his midfielders less chance for a rest, going to his bench on average just 103.6 times per game.
In the round three loss to the Western Bulldogs, the Tigers made only 98 rotations to the Dogs' 105, and lost by two points.
In round seven, Geelong made 113 interchanges on its way to beating Richmond (which made 109) by five points and the following week the Tigers made only 97 interchanges in their 17-point loss to Melbourne (which made 117).
“Yeah, that’s a good pick-up. Probably, a couple of sides, we were all a little bit hesitant to rotating – we wanted to keep a few up our sleeves,” Hardwick said of his tactics early in the season.
“We have probably been up there and abouts a couple of times and nearly used them all [lately], so it certainly helps the guys that they remain fresher, there is no doubt about that.
“But we were probably a little bit too careful at the start of the year, as most sides were, but we have probably worked out now how it works best.”
The AFL introduced the interchange cap of 120 per team at the start of the 2014 season, on a two-season trial.
However, the Tigers' recent form cannot be attributed solely to using their bench better.
Hardwick said consistency of effort was a major factor, plus the emergence of some young players to help out the side’s reliable stars.
“I think consistency of effort [helped improve results]. It’s been up and down at various stages from our point of view,” he said.
“The big thing for us is our contested ball count has been a lot better."
The Tigers have won that battle six weeks in a row.
“Good players have been playing well; we’ve had some good players back. There is no coincidence that Ivan [Maric], [Brett] Deledio, [Alex] Rance come back into the side and we play better footy.
“We’ve had a number of players step up – Anthony Miles has been terrific, Shane Edwards has been very good, Brandon Ellis has taken his game to a new level – the ability of Jack Riewoldt, [Dustin] Martin has had a good year, so we have had some players start to find their consistent form.
“The disappointing thing is whether it’s too late.”
The Tigers are in 12th spot on the ladder after last week’s win over GWS, just two wins outside the top eight with four games to play, including matches against three teams above them – starting with Essendon at the MCG on Friday night.
The Tigers' run homeRound 20: Essendon – MCG
Round 21: Adelaide – Adelaide Oval
Round 22: St Kilda – MCG
Round 23: Sydney – ANZ Stadium
Read more:
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/richmond-coach-damien-hardwick-admits-interchange-rule-stalled-tigers-20140806-1013xi.html#ixzz39c4OONuA
