MELBOURNE coach Paul Roos believes slashing the interchange cap next season will present a "huge advantage" for the more experienced teams in the competition.
The AFL has announced the cap on rotations will tumble from 120 to 90 and the substitute will be scrapped.
Roos, who has seen first-hand the effects of fatigue on the Demons' tiring young players late in the season, said fewer rotations would adversely affect inexperienced sides.
"What it means is players will be on the ground longer, their rest period's probably going to be longer," Roos said.
"I'm not a mathematician, but if you break it up, I'm told that you play less game time but you're actually on the field longer, so if you're on the field longer, what sets in earlier? Fatigue.
"The young players fatigue quicker than the older players, so the experienced teams are going to have a huge advantage with 90 (rotations).
"But, again, that's OK, you deal with it through your recruiting, you deal with it through your trading."
Roos said Melbourne's coaching group had "a lot better understanding of what we need to do and how we need to improve" as the club prepares to cut players from its list after Sunday's final game against Greater Western Sydney.
"The frustration … is the good has been really, really good. We've played some terrific footy this year in games and within games, but the disappointing thing is the drop-off is still too great," he said.
"We need to analyse why that is and how to fix it. That will be probably the most important thing in list management discussions in the off-season."
The Dees will farewell retiree Daniel Cross against the Giants after making the tough call not to offer the 32-year-old another contract, while they look increasingly likely of losing high-leaping swingman Jeremy Howe.
"To my knowledge they (Howe and his management) really haven't asked for an offer yet, again I don't get too heavily involved in that," Roos said.
"I think Jeremy needs to finish off the season really well and probably like a lot of players now they wait, they'll weigh up other options, they see what else is available and then they'll come back to the club.
"Exactly where it's at, I'm not 100 per cent certain, but Jeremy and his management have been really keen to wait … that's just the way the footy world works now."
Meanwhile, Roos said an offer was on the table for restricted free agent Col Garland and believed a new deal was "not far off" from being agreed.
The undermanned Demons are eight players short of their best 22 due to injuries and have named young defender Mitchell White, a raking left-foot kick, for his debut against the Giants at Etihad Stadium.
Melbourne is aiming to erase a 22-game winless hoodoo at the venue – stretching back to 2007 - and finish the season on a high with their first win over GWS from the past five meetings.
"From a coaching point of view … we want to finish off the year playing the sort of footy that is going to take us into the future," Roos said.
