The 'fifth man'

Submitted by footyman on
Surprised nobody mentioned it, but Peter Schwab in the VFL Grand Final Record made a comment that AFL Victoria are looking at extending the bench to five players, but the fifth player would need to be a TAC Cup player. Thoughts? Do you think it would work?
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Victorian Football League - General Discussion
footyman Topic starter Tue, 9 Dec 2008 - 19:55
It's official - next year sides will be able to use 23 players in selected VFL matches. The fifth interchange player being a TAC Cup listed player. The rule will allow 19 year old TAC Cup listed players to play in Round 3, while the remainder (including 18 year olds) will be phased in from Round 9 onwards, depending on whether they play U18 Nationals or not. Stay tuned...
NorthPort Wed, 4 Mar 2009 - 00:32

I wondered if any of the VFL clubs would look at testing this rule out during the pre-season matches ?

The Round 3 inclusion of the 19 year olds will be an interesting first step.

footyman Topic starter Wed, 4 Mar 2009 - 09:03

Slight change to the rule for Rd 3 - not only can 19 yr old TAC Cup listed players be selected, a VFL listed 19 yr old who played TAC Cup in 2008 and has not debuted for his VFL club in Rd 1 or Rd 2 can be used as the fifth bench player.