It wasn’t too long ago that resting players had a negative label linked to it. It was seen as flirting with form. Only three years ago, Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson had to defend his decision to rest Shane Crawford from a Round 22 game after it was labelled ‘arrogant’.
Funnily enough, the Hawks won the premiership in that year. And this year, the top two clubs, Geelong and Collingwood, appear to be resting (or rotating) players on an almost weekly basis.
Collingwood rested a few players too during 2010 before winning the flag, while Geelong also did so in their premiership year in 2009 (a Round 15 game in Brisbane when they lost by seven goals springs to mind).
There still is the odd grumbling about flirting with form from some in the media, but resting players has become more accepted.
The way the aforementioned clubs have recently rested players is certainly a lot different to Fremantle coach Mark Harvey’s decision in the penultimate round of the 2010 AFL regular season to rest almost half of his team for a game against Hawthorn in Tasmania.
The Dockers lost that game by almost 20 goals and that approach was seen as taking it a step too far.
However, Harvey’s decision-making process in that instance shouldn’t be ignored. It was about the long-term.
Fremantle had to win one of their final two matches of the season to get a home final and he decided they had a better chance to do that in Round 22 with a fully rested side. It worked and ironically they actually beat the Hawks in the first week of the finals.
In the majority of the other instances of clubs resting players, it’s involved top sides who can afford a loss. A loss in Round 15 won’t matter as much as a loss in September.
Geelong coach Chris Scott said about this Friday’s clash with West Coast: “In the context of the season, from where we hope to end up, it’s not the be all and end all.”
However, the obvious rebuttal to that is the idea you are flirting with form, which has lost some substance this year with the introduction of the bye which affects a team’s week-by-week rhythm anyway.
As well in 2011, the introduction of the sub-rule has played a part in making resting players a necessity of the modern game. The taxing nature of only having three on the interchange means players are becoming more exhausted and more in need of a rest.
I couldn’t tell you how the sub-rule has actually affected players’ fatigue levels, but several coaches and players – such as Collingwood’s Dale Thomas – have cited it as a reason to rest players and that’s been accepted, because it seems to make sense.
“In a game that’s so vital, any sort of edge you can get and an extra edge over the competition is going to hopefully provide a massive edge come September and early October,” Thomas said back in June and that makes a lot of sense.
Cats coach Scott was still defending his rotation policy this week, claiming he plays his best 22 every week, but the reality is the idea of resting players makes a lot of sense and he doesn’t need to be so coy, particularly in 2011 and particularly when you’re team is sitting pretty in the top two.
There’s still those who’ll say Geelong’s loss to Essendon last Saturday was evidence of flirting with form, but that’s not the point. It’s all about the long-term.