Talking Footy

wow .... an apparent legend of this game telling it like it is
the VFL refusing to put a cap on interchanges .... keeping the softest sport on the planet ... soft as ...but it also keeps it a constipated mess around the ball
just when you thought this bumbling abortion of a sport couldn't get any worse as a spectacle ... in recent years they've found a way to do just that

& when smart minds say its got to change or else
the clubs vote in favour of what experts in Victorian rules are saying .. is ruining the game
no wonder 360K people said enough of this sh.it ... & more will follow in 2013

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 6497343364

LEGEND Kevin Bartlett last night declared the AFL Commission had "dropped the ball" by baulking at an immediate cap of interchange rotations.
Bartlett, the public voice of the rebuffed Laws of the Game committee, said the commission would soon realise that rising interchanges and congestion had hijacked the game.

"It will hit them one day that they are watching a game of Under-9s," Bartlett said.

"You watch the game now and there is so much congestion around the ball. You can see that so clearly.

"They (commissioners) said that in principle they agreed - whatever that means. If that was the case, what stopped them from accepting it? They would have to explain that further."

The Laws of the Game committee recommended a cap of 80 rotations a game, but the commission on Monday called for another year of data.

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said the commission backed a cap "in principle" and strongly indicated rotations would be restricted in 2014.

"We only make recommendations. It is their decision," Bartlett said.

"But I think they dropped the ball. They had a great opportunity to make the game better. Eventually they will come to their senses. It is only a matter of time."

The commission will almost certainly come up with a cap of between 80 and 120 rotations in 2014.

"They wanted a year more of data, they wanted to trial it in the NAB Cup and they also wanted to rely on further information to determine what that cap would be at the end of the 2013 season," Demetriou said.

The Laws of the Game committee had backed a cap of 20 interchange moves a quarter, plus changes in quarter and half-time breaks (about 90 interchanges in total).

Another Laws of the Game committee member, former Crow Brett Burton, yesterday said clubs would quickly adapt to the looming 2014 rotation restriction.

Burton, the Brisbane Lions fitness boss, denied the decision to delay the interchange cap was a rebuff for the laws committee.

"What we have shown in the last five years with the different rule changes is that clubs and coaches do adapt," Burton said.

The AFL Players' Association, which had fought to retain the three/one interchange mix without a cap, yesterday welcomed the commission's decision.

"This has been a critical issue for our members, and has a big impact on their fitness and longevity in the game," AFLPA chief executive Matt Finnis said.

"The cautious approach of the commission recognises the impact of any changes."