Just when you thought they were gone...
Patrick Keane from the AFL let off a few tweets this afternoon regarding the 2012 fixture:
"2012 Premiership Season will see 22 GAMES for each club across 23 wks. One week off for each team. Final round to be played Aug 31-Sept 2."
"Rounds 11-12-13 in mid-year will see 6 matches in each of those rounds, compared to normal 9 matches, with 6 clubs having a bye in each round"
If I were a half-glass full man, I'd say that we only have to think about byes for 3 weeks instead of 24, which is something to be thankful for, I guess. I'd also that say that this will make things very interesting and require coaches to think outside the box, which can only be good for the game. The extent to which it will prompt coaches to go for more unique players and strategies other than guns and rookies is hard to know at this stage.
If I were of the half-glass empty persuasion, I'd say that we won't truly know how nasty this will be until October 28 when the fixture is released, and we know which teams are lumped together in the same bye. However, it is safe to say that coaches who do not plan for this will get indigestion after being force-fed donut after donut, in at least one round.
I'm interested in the thoughts of others on what this will mean and how we could approach these bye rounds.
Patrick Keane from the AFL let off a few tweets this afternoon regarding the 2012 fixture:
"2012 Premiership Season will see 22 GAMES for each club across 23 wks. One week off for each team. Final round to be played Aug 31-Sept 2."
"Rounds 11-12-13 in mid-year will see 6 matches in each of those rounds, compared to normal 9 matches, with 6 clubs having a bye in each round"
If I were a half-glass full man, I'd say that we only have to think about byes for 3 weeks instead of 24, which is something to be thankful for, I guess. I'd also that say that this will make things very interesting and require coaches to think outside the box, which can only be good for the game. The extent to which it will prompt coaches to go for more unique players and strategies other than guns and rookies is hard to know at this stage.
If I were of the half-glass empty persuasion, I'd say that we won't truly know how nasty this will be until October 28 when the fixture is released, and we know which teams are lumped together in the same bye. However, it is safe to say that coaches who do not plan for this will get indigestion after being force-fed donut after donut, in at least one round.
I'm interested in the thoughts of others on what this will mean and how we could approach these bye rounds.