Seven midfielders who finished in the top 10 of last year's Brownlow Medal count have increased the percentage of time they are spending on the ground in the first three rounds this year compared to their overall average last season.

 

Gary Ablett, Joel Selwood, Steve Johnson, Dane Swan, Scott Pendlebury, Tom Rockliff and Kieren Jack are spending longer on the ground as they minimise their rotations.

 

Gold Coast's Ablett spends 94.2 per cent of his time on the ground (up 0.2 per cent from the first three rounds last year). That figure is the highest percentage of game time a recognised midfielder plays, almost 2 per cent higher than any other.

 

Geelong midfielders Selwood and Johnson have increased their game time significantly so far in 2014, with Selwood on the ground 86.7 per cent of game time compared to 83.7 per cent last year.

 

Johnson has been on the ground 88.6 per cent in rounds one to three compared to 86.5 per cent in 2013.

 

Swan's forays forward this year means more time on the ground for the 30-year-old – up from 84 to 86 per cent. In the Magpies' premiership year in 2010 he was on the ground on average 80 per cent of the time.

 

Over the course of a 22-game season, that extra 2 per cent only results in an extra 52.8 minutes of playing time if the game goes for, on average, 120 minutes.

 

More time, less touches might make you think 'go figure'. But Swan used the interchange better than anyone else in the game so it throws another potential reason for his early season struggles into the mix.

 

Rockliff – who finished sixth in the 2013 Brownlow Medal – has been on the ground 91.1 per cent in his first two games (he missed round two through suspension) after spending 82.3 per cent of his time on the ground last season.

Jack returned from injury in round two but has been on the ground 86 per cent of the time compared to 84.7 in 2013.

 

 

From last year's top-10 Brownlow Medal list, only Adelaide's Patrick Dangerfield (86.4 per cent in 2013 down to 86 per cent so far in 2014), the Sydney Swans' Daniel Hannebery (84.9 per cent to 84.2 per cent) and Richmond's Trent Cotchin (82.5 per cent to 82.1 per cent) have decreased their time on the ground.

 

And if you just compare the first three rounds from last season, Dangerfield was on the ground for 83.3 per cent of that time.

 

Cotchin is not too fussed at the change but admits workloads are only going to increase.

 

"I think you train for that in the pre-season," Cotchin said. 

"Once you adapt to it you get in the swing of things and your body is ready for it. That is the way the game is starting so you just have to make sure you are ready to go."

 

It's early days but the numbers are starting to tell a tale.

 

Each of the club's top rotated players in 2013 decreased their average number of rotations in the first three rounds of 2014. Ten of the 15 who have played this season have increased their percentage game time.

 

Last year, Fremantle midfielder David Mundy came on and off the ground an average of 11.2 times a game.

 

He was on the field for 77.4 per cent of Dockers' games as the club charged into its first Grand Final.  

 

This year, after three rounds, he has spent 84.2 per cent of time on the ground and gone on and off the interchange bench an average of 8.7 times a game.

 

Even taking into account the fact an injury here or there might effect last year's figures slightly (and the small sample size after just three rounds), Mundy's numbers are consistent with other midfielders.

 

It will put clubs who can bank early wins in a strong position as they manage their players throughout the year. 

 

Fremantle coach Ross Lyon summed up what this means for players in the longer term during an interview on SEN on Saturday: "Midfielders who can't run are in trouble".

 

Only midfielders with specific combinations of speed and endurance to both spread quickly and run hard either way will excel. That's not a big worry for the class players who find a way to succeed but might weed out others. 

 

Some players will also survive through versatility.

 

The Cats' James Kelly was the club's most highly rotated player in 2013 – averaging 9.3 interchanges per game – but his move into defence has seen him come on and off the ground just 4.7 times on average per game in the first three rounds. 

 

Hawthorn's Sam Mitchell and Sydney Swans skipper Jarrad McVeigh adapted similarly in the past couple of years.

 

Good players will adapt, as they must and always do, but their bodies will continually be tested.