THE FIRST weekend of a 90-rotations interchange cap should tell football fans one thing - it’s bloody hard work in the fourth quarter.
With last year's cap of 120 interchanges severed by 25 per cent in 2016, players have visibly battled to maintain their best running performance across the opening round of AFL games.
Port Adelaide’s fitness served it well when interchanges peaked late in its 33-point win over St Kilda on Easter Sunday, aiding it’s late-game surge where nine consecutive goals finished a 54-point turnaround by the close of play.
The Power had trailed the Saints by 21 points in the third term.
Jake Neade had the legs against Sam Fisher at this point in Sunday's game [pic: AFL Media]
“It was tough,” veteran defender Alipate Carlile told portadelaidefc.com.au.
“The boys will get used to it, we’re a pretty good running team so we’ve just got to keep grinding away and keep pushing teams.
“Physically we’re as prepared as anyone could be [for the rotation cap].”
Senior coach Ken Hinkley was unsurprised by the visible fatigue shown by both sides on Sunday.
With no substitute in place for the first time since 2010, teams also lost the ability to inject fresh legs into games either as an on-field catalyst or as an injury replacement.
Fans might have wished the sub rule was retained 10 minutes into the opening term, when Matt White left the field with an injured pectoral.
Hinkley was happy to see the back of the sub rule, although acknowledged the rotations cap would hurt sides if the injury list piled up during a game.
However, he was encouraged by his group's running power at the end of the game.
“If you lost three players, obviously it [the cap] becomes an issue," Hinkley said.
"But I thought it was a bit of a tick for our fitness, let’s be honest - Whitey down; 10 minutes into the first quarter; in warmish conditions; a fast game of football; we’ve always said we’ve got the ability to run and we use that as one of our key trademarks.”
“I thought that was pretty significant.”
The Power used all 90 of their available rotations against the Saints.
Port Adelaide plays the Adelaide Crows in Showdown XL on Saturday 2 April at the Adelaide Oval at 1.15pm.
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