The 2018 AFL injury figures have been shared amongst the 18 clubs.
It does not make for great reading.
As reported by SEN’s Sam McClure, the AFL medicos are shocked by the findings. Injuries are up 20% from 2017 and the combined games missed are up from 100 in 2017 to 120 in 2018.
The figures are alarming for those inside AFL house.
As we witnessed at Adelaide last year, hamstrings strains are still the most common injury in the game. The advance in technology, research and different techniques in the gym and on the training track have done nothing to fix the hammy epidemic in the game.
Surely now it’s time to reduce interchange rotations further.
Right now rotations are capped at 90 per team.
In the mid 2000s that number organically sat at around 30.
The longer players are forced to stay out on the field, the more fatigued they become, meaning they cannot sustain speed and intensity around the ball - therefore reducing collision injuries and therefore reducing high impact, high speed hamstring injuries.
The majority of AFL injuries, like hamstrings, are the result of players running at high speeds and intensity. If you introduce fatigue, through limited rotations, the players are incapable of maintaining such speeds, therefore reducing the risk of high impact injuries.
Coupled with that, the game with also open up, congestion will ease and it will become easier to score, particularly in the second half when greater fatigue sets in.
The AFL have made dramatic changes to the rules in this off-season, but they have neglected to move on the most obvious and easy one.
60 rotations is more than enough for the players and the coaches. That’s 15 a quarter!
For the good of the players and the look of the game, it’s time to act now.