AFL to don’t forget pre-season overhaul in bid to combat accidents

The AFL will weigh up shortening its pre-season in a bid to reduce the variety of gamers getting injured earlier than the season, right. AFL football operations boss Steve Hocking says the league’s competition committee will keep in mind several alternatives, together with giving gamers an extended off-season smash.

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Teams that did no longer play finals can convey their first to fourth-year players again at the start of November, with senior gamers becoming a member of them a fortnight later. The AFL also ultimate 12 months enforced a three-week shutdown duration at clubs over Christmas, up from two weeks formerly. However, there is a debate at league headquarters approximately the pre-seasons shape and period and the way that is probably affecting participant accidents. The league has not launched any current records, but The Age final month reported the general injury rate had spiked with the aid of 20% last yr.

“If you have got a observe how many gamers have ended up injured at some point of the February period, that’s a concern for the enterprise,” stated Hocking, after chairing the competition committee’s first meeting for 2019 in Melbourne on Wednesday. “We’ve were given to get better at that and make sure they get the appropriate coaching main into a season, so we’ve were given the great players to be had to play the excellent video games. “The industry plugs quite a few events right through from induction camps, community camps, indigenous camps. We’ve now got AFLX as nicely. “We want to step again from that and understand what a destiny pre-season seems like and the way does we no longer disrupt players from their loading section. We’ll try this work over the next six to 8 months and see in which we land.”

Hocking has asked membership excessive-overall performance managers to assess alternatives and record back to the committee, including gamers, coaches, membership presidents, and different officers. Each crew presently performs two regular pre-season games; however, golf equipment has extensively utilized casual exercise matches to prepare their players. Brisbane coach Chris Fagan, who also sits on the committee, stated there had been no absolute way to save you gamers from getting harm inside the pre-season. “As coaches, we maintain our breath throughout February and March that we don’t get the one’s accidents. But you couldn’t keep away from them,” he stated. “You need to practice contact; otherwise, you’re no longer geared up.”