Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\nAFL administrator Greg Swann shared a warning for clubs in the league wide memo.<\/p>\n
Swann reminded coaches of the AFL Rules on Clubs to \u201cperform on one\u2019s merits\u201d, saying team selection will be scrutinised.<\/p>\n
Fines could be handed out to any club deemed to have broken selection rules for the inaugural \u2018wildcard weekend\u2019.<\/p>\n
The memo has attracted significant backlash with AFL great Mick Malthouse saying he would not have read it, and advised clubs to stomach potential fines.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was horrified that the AFL would put their noses into the clubs\u2019 business \u2026 no one looks after the players better than the clubs, and no one knows how to get the best out of the players more than the clubs,\u201d Malthouse said, as reported by Code Sports.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is an infringement on their rights as coaches and as match committees to choose the best for their teams.<\/p>\n
![\"Outspoken](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/e1777f9c0bb975897e33b6dd2941e63d.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t have even bothered reading it (the memo).<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t see how the AFL can do that remotely and then try to judge the selection and who is rested and who isn\u2019t,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs it retrospective? Do they have a look at the Dogs because they rested (Aaron) Naughton and (Cody) Weightman last week? And Collingwood managed Scott Pendlebury earlier this year (before his record-breaking 433rd game).<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just ridiculous. <\/p>\n
\u201cI am bemused that there are so many things being done on the run (by the AFL) and the ramifications are so big.<\/p>\n
\u201cGetting away from our tradition is killing me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are losing our identity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe history and culture of our game is changing before our eyes \u2026 and now we are being told the AFL wants to help select the sides.\u201d<\/p>\n
Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge is also sceptical of the proposal and questioned how the AFL would be able to determine if a player was left out due to being rested rather than injured.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the main consideration for the teams who might be certainties to play a wildcard game going into that round is the fact that the six teams above the seventh have all got a week off,\u201d he said on Fox Sports\u2019 AFL 360.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I\u2019m sure within the ranks of the teams that are certainties, you\u2019re processing who needs a week off.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a long season. We\u2019ve just had Naughts (Aaron Naughton) and Cody (Weightman) come out of the game, not because we wanted them to but it would have been too hard for them to play over in Perth.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, if you\u2019re doing it this far out, you\u2019re definitely going to do it the week before the wildcard.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, I\u2019d question how the AFL could question a club \u2013 because you\u2019re questioning the medical department from a club as well \u2013 if that happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Originally published as AFL slammed over big shake-up with legend leading backlash against of \u2018ridiculous\u2019 proposal<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An AFL memo sent to all 18 clubs has been widely criticised by greats within the game. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":843585,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[415662,415677,387745,415658,381101,379284,395693,381022,415664,603,19060,638,392562,415650,415684,415673,415648,415679,64,63,55,639,415680,12344,38326,99,415651,23816,1650,68077,18013,10990,376920,385681,377159,1127,3738,39725,415656,415675,415666,62756,377208,13307,10675,415686,308485,415670,415645,415661,13052,415663,415665,377271,392116,380373,415674,415669,46,38633,7820,394238,62902,279862,415652,19083,415668,415659,85,52906,415649,379302,385670,379209,381352,379248,415683,379398,74713,415646,415671,415678,415682,415655,415647,175806,127376,411666,415660,385577,385673,415657,376601,415667,415687,415654,394546,98734,415676,415672,379221,415653,415685,415681,377211],"class_list":["post-843584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-wildcard-weekend-the-memo","tag-s-merits","tag-a-club","tag-a-long-season","tag-a-look","tag-a-player","tag-a-warning","tag-a-week","tag-a-wildcard-game","tag-aaron","tag-aaron-naughton","tag-afl","tag-afl-360","tag-afl-great-mick-malthouse","tag-all-18-clubs","tag-an-afl-memo","tag-an-infringement","tag-any-club","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-big-shake-up","tag-bosses","tag-break","tag-business","tag-certainties","tag-clubs","tag-coaches","tag-code-sports","tag-cody","tag-collingwood","tag-earlier-this-year","tag-every-match","tag-every-round","tag-fox-footy","tag-fox-sports","tag-greats","tag-his-record-breaking-433rd-game","tag-huge-backlash","tag-just-1-afl-administrator-greg-swann","tag-kayo","tag-kayo-sports-new","tag-last-week","tag-legend","tag-legend-leading-backlash","tag-malthouse","tag-many-things","tag-many-vocal-critics","tag-match-committees","tag-monday","tag-naughton","tag-naughts","tag-no-one","tag-our-eyes","tag-our-game","tag-our-identity","tag-our-tradition","tag-perth","tag-play","tag-players","tag-potential-fines","tag-proposal","tag-ridiculous","tag-round-24-watch","tag-scott-pendlebury","tag-selection-rules","tag-significant-backlash","tag-sports","tag-team-selection","tag-that-round","tag-the-afl","tag-the-afl-premiership-season-live","tag-the-afl-rules","tag-the-best","tag-the-clubs","tag-the-dogs","tag-the-fact","tag-the-game","tag-the-history-and-culture","tag-the-inaugural","tag-the-league-wide-memo-swann","tag-the-main-consideration","tag-the-medical-department","tag-the-memo","tag-the-players","tag-the-proposal","tag-the-ramifications","tag-the-ranks","tag-the-run","tag-the-seemingly-innocuous-comments","tag-the-selection","tag-the-seventh","tag-the-shake-up-proposal","tag-the-sides","tag-the-six-teams","tag-the-teams","tag-the-week","tag-the-wildcard","tag-their-noses","tag-their-rights","tag-their-teams-mitch-brown","tag-weightman","tag-western-bulldogs-coach-luke-beveridge","tag-your-first-month"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=843584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/843585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=843584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=843584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=843584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}