League issues tanking warning ahead of Round 24, Ross Lyon, AFL 360 video, latest news

The AFL has made its anti-tanking stance abundantly clear ahead of the final rounds of the home-and-away season.

But that hasn’t stopped experts and senior coaches alike from challenging the crux of a memo revealed on Monday night.

Watch every match of every round of the AFL Premiership Season LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.

AFL 360 shared the official league message sent to the 18 clubs on Monday, reiterating their “obligation” to “perform on one’s merits”.

It comes as clubs likely to play on wildcard weekend prepare to manage their best players through the closing weeks of the regular season.

The memo reads as follows:

“Please be reminded of the obligation in the AFL Rules on Clubs to “perform on one’s merits”, meaning that Clubs must perform honestly and to the best of their ability.

“While legitimate management of player fatigue and injuries is permitted, the AFL will scrutinise Club team selection decisions in the lead-up to the AFL Finals in the context of this Rule.”

Gerard Whateley added: “Just speaking to those in the system, maximum fines would be pretty high if you were judged to be in breach of that.”

The AFL’s reminder comes after Ross Lyon, coach of Fremantle at the time, famously made 10 changes ahead of the Dockers’ final-round clash in 2013 in order to rest their big names.

Two years later, Lyon made 11 changes in the last week of the season after his Fremantle side had already secured top spot.

MORE COVERAGE:

REPORT CARD: Flawless win prompts unprecedented grade; star’s ‘huge problem’ hits shocking new low

TALKING PTS: Legend’s brutal Bombers coach whack; draft blunder births AFL’s new ‘curse’

AFL DAILY: Twist in Fraser’s Blues coach call as Pies’ first decision on veterans’ futures revealed

But Demons great Garry Lyon questioned the grey area in the freshly-released memo.

“What’s ‘breach’? Is 10 a breach? Is six acceptable? Is four no problem?” he posed.

“If you’ve planned your season out, and you’ve rested players and got to a stage where you can now elect to play or not play up to four, five, six, seven, eight players, then that is, in my opinion, your right.

“The main obligation for you is not to win Round 22, 23 or 24. Your obligation is to win the premiership. That’s your charter.

“And if you’ve mapped out a program that’s going to give you the best opportunity to do that, I don’t think the AFL can come over the top — certainly not at Round 21.”

Whateley concurred, opposing the league’s “threat”.

“The AFL tied itself in knots over this years ago, which is why we ended up with the pre-finals bye. They prioritised the final round of the home-and-away season instead of the finals series,” he said.

“For the teams 7-10 (on the ladder), particularly if there’s a team that legitimately has claims to make a run at it, they’re going to have to play five straight weeks without having a break against teams who are refreshed.

“If you have locked your position away, I say do whatever you like … I hate the fact that this is probably about gambling markets.

“But declare to the market ‘this is what we’re going to do’ — total transparency. But I don’t think the AFL should be stepping in with threat or punishment if you choose to rest a critical mass of players.”

Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge gave an explanation of the thought processes of likely wildcard teams.

“I think the main consideration for the teams who might be certainties to play a wildcard game is the fact that the six teams above seventh all have a week off,” Beveridge told AFL 360.

“I’m sure, within the ranks of the teams that are certainties, you’re processing who needs a week off.

“We’ve just had ‘Naughts’ (Aaron Naughton) and Cody (Weightman) come out of the game, not because we wanted them to, but because it would have been too hard for them to play over in Perth.

“So, if you’re doing it this far out, you’re definitely going to do it the week before the wildcard.

“So I’d question how the AFL could question a club — because you’re questioning the medical department as well — if that happens.”

Beveridge finished with a little quip referencing that infamous Fremantle team selection.

“If you’re in that position, I reckon most of us would give Rossy Lyon a call and just see how he went about it when he rested about 15, didn’t he?” he said.

Melbourne coach Steven King exhibited a similar sentiment to Beveridge when probed on the topic.

“I’m the coach of the Melbourne Football Club; I’ll make any decision that’s best for our football club, and best for the management of our players,” he said.

“But like Bevo touched on, I’m not a doctor, and I don’t question our medical team week to week on who needs management of training loads or during gameday.

“I’m certainly not going to try and push Kade Chandler to play with a fractured hand against Gold Coast … it’s out of our hands.”

Click here to read article