HAWTHORN coach Alastair Clarkson says football will enter a period of uncertainty if the AFL Commission decides on Monday to set an interchange cap for 2014.

The Commission meets amid concerns from the AFL Players Association that a cap will affect the game's spectacle.

The Commission's July meeting asked for more information to be presented on the link between injuries and interchange rates.

The Hawks have been one of the higher rotating teams in 2013 and on Saturday hit 140. Other top-four teams Fremantle and Geelong have also hovered around that mark.

Most coaches believe there is a natural tipping point where interchange rotations become ineffective, and that acts as a natural cap.

"I don't see our game being dramatically changed by the amount of interchanges that are occurring, outside of someone may think it is not a great spectacle if there is a lot of players running on and off the ground," Clarkson said.

"In terms of what it is doing to the game, I don't think it has a great impact."

Clarkson suggested early in the season that setting the figure at 120 might be a compromise and re-iterated that stance on Saturday afternoon.

"If that ceiling is regulated then I think somewhere around 120 or 130 is a good thing to look at and then it can either be relaxed after that and go back to 140, or it can be tightened a little bit and go down to 100 or 110.

"I think if you are too dramatic in your change it's a hard thing to come back from."

North Melbourne coach Brad Scott said any number was arbitrary as there was no science to back up a specific figure.

"They are going to select a number based on not much at all. I have said for a long time I don't really care what it is: if it is 80, 100, 120, 140, 500, it doesn't worry us. [Just] tell us as soon as possible and we'll work with it."

Clubs are keen to know the figure as soon as possible, with some believing it will impact on their recruiting decisions, but other coaches to whom AFL.com.au has spoken say few recruiting decisions would be influenced by of a cap.

Geelong coach Chris Scott said on Saturday his preference was for no cap, but he faith in the decision makers that they would tread carefully.

"I guess my view is the game's in fantastic shape. Watching the footy tonight I didn't think, 'Gee, we need to make drastic changes to the interchange to improve the game'."

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick took a similar line.

"I'm one of those people that say 'Let's judge a game by what it looks like, not what the numbers say'.
"I think the game between the really good sides have been fantastic this year."

However veteran coach Kevin Sheedy, who has pushed for an extended interchange in the past, said the cap should come in at 120 and then decrease to 100.

"I think it's an absolute joke that coaches let 150 rotations at each club," he said.

The Giants have been among the highest rotating teams this season and recorded 160 interchanges in round 21.

Coaches were concerned in pre-season about the decision-making of the Laws of the Game Committee but have been pleased with developments since that have given them a more effective voice.

The appointment of Mark Evans as AFL football operations manager has improved dialogue with clubs and Collingwood's coaching director Rodney Eade now represents coaches on the committee.
 
An AFL Players Association submission on Friday argued that an interchange cap would have a negative effect on the spectacle of the game and that no nexus had been proven between interchange numbers and injury.

But coaches expect to see a cap.

"It is going to come in this year, what it is we probably hope it's around the 120 mark, but time will tell," Hardwick said.

However, a glimmer of hope exists for opponents.

At his press conference last Wednesday AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou, long definitive about a cap being introduced, said the Commission would "consider an interchange cap, if any, for 2014."

Additional reporting by Nick Bowen and James Dampney