Interchange (Australian rules football)
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Interchange is the term used to describe a team position in Australian rules football, also often known as "the bench". Players on the interchange bench are not permitted to enter the field of play unless substituting for a player during the game. They may join the team for quarter-time and three-quarter time huddles, but not for huddles which form during extended hold-ups in play, such as a stretcher injury.
Presently, up to four players can be named on the bench, although this number has steadily increased over the decades. Teams were permitted a single replacement player, as opposed to an interchange player, in 1930. This was increased to two replacements in 1946. In 1978, the replacement became interchanges, who could be replaced as many times as desired. This increased to three players in 1994, and to four in 1998. Representative teams (such as State of Origin teams or honorific teams such as the AFL Team of the Century), practise and exhibition matches often feature an extended interchange bench of up to six or eight players.
Interchanges in Australian football are unlimited. Teams are not limited to the number of times they may make changes, nor are players limited to the number of times they may be changed. The four players named on the interchange bench in the teamsheet, which is submitted forty-five minutes before the commencement of the game, must be the four players who start on the bench, however they may be substituted immediately if the coach wishes.
In front of the interchange bench is the interchange gate, which is a 20 metre stretch of the boundary line centred between the two teams' benches. It is marked on the boundary line with two short, yellow perpendicular lines, slanted at the ends. Behind the interchange gate are two holding zones, one for each team, within which players waiting to be interchanged onto the field must stand until the player being interchanged off the field has passed the interchange gate. In order to make an interchange, a team official must lodge a written request with the interchange steward, which simply give the number of the players being interchanged. Prior to 2008, a similar protocol existed, except without holding zones.
Prior to 2008, teams could be penalised for an interchange infringement only if the opposing captain requested a line-up with the field umpire. The field umpire then stops play and literally lines up and counts the players from both teams, checking with the interchange steward to ensure that no players had been disqualified for previously failing to follow protocol. A team found guilty of such an infraction had its entire score (up to that point of the game) cancelled. No such penalties have ever been enforced in the AFL, but it is seen occasionally in lower leagues. Following a controversial draw in 2008 involving an undetected interchange infringement, the AFL amended the protocol to include holding zones, and amended the penalty for an infringement to a free kick and a fifty-metre penalty (ensuring a 30m shot on goal at worst) to be paid by the emergency umpire, acting on advice from the interchange steward.
The only exception to this protocol is in the case of a stretcher injury. If a player is taken from the field on a stretcher, the stretcher will automatically take the shortest route to the club rooms, which is rarely through the interchange gate. If the player is ultimately able to rejoin play, they will be allowed to do so, provided twenty playing minutes have elapsed since they were stretchered off the ground. This is not common, however it can occur if the injury is a mild concussion, or if a stretcher is prematurely brought onto the ground for a player who does not have a serious injury (clubs are fined if a stretcher is brought onto the field, but no player is taken off on it).
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