The AFL today announced a raft of possible rule changes for next season, but the one that will cause the most heated debate is the proposed change to the interchange. And on this point the AFL has a credibility issue.

For months we have heard that high interchange rotations lead to more injuries. However this myth was debunked when the club with the highest rotations - Collingwood - pointed out they had hardly any injuries.

Then the goal posts moved, with AFL head of footy Adrian Anderson saying that a NRL study proved that reduced interchange led to fewer injuries. However former NRL coach and now respected journalist Roy Masters in the Sydney Morning Herald on 31 July pointed out that the study was NOT on the NRL, but rather, “they were juniors, or what some might call ''pub players'', not NRL players”.

Masters continued, writing, “Indeed, long-term NRL club doctors, such as the Bulldogs' Hugh Hazard, have argued against reducing the interchange because they fear an increase in injuries, with wounded players forced to stay on the field. But the AFL wants its stars to stay on the field (and TV sets) longer and will even stoop to quote the NRL, spuriously, to do so.”

Last week saw yet another angle, this time from Leigh Matthews. Speaking on 3AW, Matthews said the rules committee was told the research showed that injuries were being suffered by clubs that didn’t rotate as much. Funny, but the Cats are among the lowest interchange teams in the league and seem to avoid injuries better than most.

With so much apparently contradictory information regarding the need to limit interchange, it’s hard to view the AFL’s argument with much credibility.

The facts are that the rule changes introduced at the end of 2005 were designed to increase the speed of the game. It worked and now the AFL doesn’t like the fact the rules they introduced actually achieved what they wanted to achieve!

No doubt the league will force through a change, and in a year or two we will all be hearing about the need to change the rules again. Every rule change brings a reaction on the field, and the coaches and players are way ahead of the league and the rules committee.

Changes five years ago have led to the current rate of interchange…who knows what will happen next.

The views of the writer are his own and do not necessarily represent the views of the club.