THEY already have a half-time break during training and, on Thursday, the Crows broadened their match-day simulation to include the interchange bench.

The new interchange rules don’t come into effect until round nine, but Craig said it was important the Crows were totally familiar with the new laws, to avoid incurring the ‘stiff’ penalties.

“I think all AFL clubs had a video link-up yesterday to get all the information across about how the new interchange rule will be administered,” he said.

“We get one week to get good at it and to make sure that our procedures on the bench are really crystal clear, which includes the support staff managing it and the players as well, so we had a look at it today.”

The changes to the interchange rules include the introduction of a holding area, where players ready to come into the game must wait, and also an immediate free kick and 50m penalty awarded against any side deemed to have 19 men on the field, however briefly.

A player must wait until his teammate is completely off the field before entering the arena and any change must be given the all clear by either of the two new interchange stewards.

The changes have come about following an incident involving North Melbourne and the Sydney Swans earlier this season, where the Swans briefly fielded 19 men before realising their mistake.

“It’s not confusing. It just means that before a player goes on, he’s actually got to be given permission to go on and the reason behind that is of course what happened a few weeks ago, when there were 19 men on the field,” Craig said.

“We created that problem - the clubs, the coaches and the teams created that issue, so now we’re being brought into line.

“The penalties are stiff - it will be a shot on goal basically, so you’ll need to be squeaky clean.

“The person who has to call the penalty will need to be on the ball and sure of exactly what he or she has seen.

“It will be interesting to see how it unfolds but it will, I think, pull all clubs into gear.”