BROWNLOW Medallist Gerard Healy has called on the AFL to scrap all current byes during the season.<\/p>\n
Clubs are currently given one bye during the season, while there\u2019s also a week’s break between the end of the home and away rounds and the start of the finals series.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s been some talk in recent weeks about shifting the current post-season bye to allow a week\u2019s gap between the two preliminary finals and the grand final, largely as a result of the AFL mandating a minimum of 12 days off if any player suffers a concussion.<\/p>\n
Healy said he wasn\u2019t a fan of that idea, saying that all byes should be wound back by the AFL.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve lost a lot of players for injuries and we haven\u2019t seemed to think it\u2019s anything except being luck of the draw,\u201d he said on AFL Nation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think everyone is trying to compare this (proposed bye before the grand final) to the other bye (post-season), the other bye is finishing on Sunday and we play our first final on a Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you play it the other way, you finish the preliminary finals on the Saturday and it\u2019s a full two weeks compared to 10 days (off).<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the sake of on average one person (who could be injured or concussed), I don\u2019t think we should be changing the flow. I personally think we should get rid of all the byes, I\u2019m not a bye fan.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that there\u2019s enough pressure from coaches to get rid of that bye and it\u2019s coming from guys like (Richmond coach) Damien Hardwick, who have seen it working against them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re going to change the bye, get rid of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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