The Dogs registered 157 interchanges against North Melbourne on Sunday, which broke Hawthorn’s previous record by one.
Eade attributed the number to the “residual carry-over from Darwin” and warned the AFL against setting a low cap without considering games played in heat.
“If they cap the interchanges, it’s a worry early in the season when you’re playing on hot days,” he said, after the 71-point win.
“The players would blow up. We did it in Darwin on purpose, we did it last week on purpose as a recovery process, and today the guys early were a bit sluggish in the legs.
Eade questioned the wisdom of tinkering with a product that was pulling strong crowds and television ratings.
“I don’t see any logic in that. It’s a good product at the moment," he said.
“If they have to cap it, cap it at 130.”
Eade admitted he delivered a spirited half-time bake to his players after they demonstrated lethargy defensively and in tackling against the Kangaroos.
“They just needed a wake-up call. That’s not acceptable, the way we play, even though North was playing well; their pressure was terrific and they came to play,” he said.
“But there are some areas that we rate ourselves in that don’t take talent and they dropped off.
“In the third quarter, it turned around. It was epitomised with [Daniel] Giansiracusa’s chase in the forward pocket where he read the play well enough to put pressure on the right person rather than be standing still.
“I think that was the catalyst for getting us back.”
The coach thought Liam Jones was solid on debut and praised his pressure, saying he had what it took to make it at AFL level.
Eade also said the Etihad Stadium turf held up well after Saturday night’s Bledisloe Cup rugby match.
Jarrod Harbrow withdrew with a virus while Ryan Griffen was concussed in the third quarter but came back on for a period.
Both are expected to play next week while Mitch Hahn will be available in two after escaping a big hit in the VFL with concussion.
