Roos supports Malthouse about interchange
June 23rd 2008 06:46
Sydney coach Paul Roos has spoken out supporting the idea of expanding the AFL interchange bench after Collingwood coach Mick Mathouse suggested the idea in his side's loss to the Western Bulldogs.
Matlhouse deflected questions about his side's performance, blaming the injuries that his players sustained, and calling for at least another person to be added to the interchange bench.
“There needs to be a think tank regarding the interchange,” Roos said. “With two players down it is almost impossible to win a game of football. It was a great effort by Collingwood to be able to do what they did.
“It is up to the AFL to determine whether they want to subject the fans to that. I imagine the Collingwood supporters were sitting there halfway through the third quarter thinking even though we are close it is going to be tough.
“It is not for the coaches to come up with the answer but it is certainly worth thinking about and tossing some ideas around.
“If you polled the coaches I am sure that most want extra players on the bench certainly for the injury situations that happened on the weekend.
“I think it is certainly worth discussing with the Players Association, the Coaches Association and the AFL because there is no doubt that the game is more physically demanding and maybe it is time to expand the bench.
“You don’t want games to be determined by injuries. It happens to all clubs but Collingwood certainly didn’t get the luck of the draw yesterday.”
The last time the interchange rule was altered was back in 1997, when a fourth member was added to each side's bench. It originally began with two players on the sideline, then expanded to three, and currently it stands at four.
Malthouse has been an advocate of adding another person to the bench for a number of years.
Matlhouse deflected questions about his side's performance, blaming the injuries that his players sustained, and calling for at least another person to be added to the interchange bench.
“There needs to be a think tank regarding the interchange,” Roos said. “With two players down it is almost impossible to win a game of football. It was a great effort by Collingwood to be able to do what they did.
“It is up to the AFL to determine whether they want to subject the fans to that. I imagine the Collingwood supporters were sitting there halfway through the third quarter thinking even though we are close it is going to be tough.
“It is not for the coaches to come up with the answer but it is certainly worth thinking about and tossing some ideas around.
“If you polled the coaches I am sure that most want extra players on the bench certainly for the injury situations that happened on the weekend.
“I think it is certainly worth discussing with the Players Association, the Coaches Association and the AFL because there is no doubt that the game is more physically demanding and maybe it is time to expand the bench.
“You don’t want games to be determined by injuries. It happens to all clubs but Collingwood certainly didn’t get the luck of the draw yesterday.”
The last time the interchange rule was altered was back in 1997, when a fourth member was added to each side's bench. It originally began with two players on the sideline, then expanded to three, and currently it stands at four.
Malthouse has been an advocate of adding another person to the bench for a number of years.
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