Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has hit out at the AFL's introduction of a medical substitute, claiming that it has the potential to cause "turmoil" among players.
While Beveridge is far from the first person to criticise the medical substitute, he is the first coach to publicly speak out against the rule which was thought to have been brought in at the request of the coaches.
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Beveridge confirmed that he had not attended the meeting where the his counterparts had raised the need for a sub, saying he had "nothing to do with it".
"When you have the whole medical establishment not being briefed going into the competition, it has just been rushed through," he told reporters ahead of Round One.
"If we have got to a stage where we are saying that more players will come out of the game through an injury or concussion than ever before and we need to have an extra player on hand, then surely there were some other levers we could pull than just introduce a substitute player. We have been down this track before with the old sub.
"The 75 interchanges are a constraint where I wouldn't think any of us as coaches would want to use more than four on the interchange bench because it means that players are off the ground for too long. So maybe they could have just added a fifth where both teams have the got the choice of introducing a player whenever they want, no matter whether there is injury.
"That creates a strategic aspect from a coaching and playing point of view because what this sub now creates is a whole series of headaches for everyone.
"Not only decisions have to be made on the day but then the doctors will have to substantiate whether or not a player can play the next week if it was an injury through an administrative process that wasn't there before."
According to The Age, Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson is understood to have led the charge for a substitute in the meeting with AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan and football operations boss Steve Hocking.
Beveridge also indicated that the introduction of the substitute will lead to problems among the playing group due to the uncertainty players will have over their selection.
"Then in the meetings and the consideration of who it might be, imagine the turmoil within the playing ranks as to who is that sub and does he miss out now on two or three opportunities to be in the team because he hasn't played," he said.
"It does create some people management headaches – weren't thinking about player welfare and the mental health side of the game as well. It just creates new layers in that regard."
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