Adelaide boss Andrew Fagan has accused the AFL of being selective in its attitude to integrity, declaring the Crows were "not happy" at North Melbourne's decision to rest nine players for their round-23 clash with Richmond.
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The move, which will significantly jeopardise the Crows' chances of a home final next week, has angered the club, with Fagan confirming he first sought clarity on Tuesday around the relevant rule. Fagan has called on the AFL to review the rule at the end of the season.
But AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan has declared his faith in the system, telling Fairfax Media that although North's controversial stand didn't feel right, the rule in place was the right rule.
Fagan disagreed. "The question that needs to be asked is do we believe as stakeholders in this competition that the positions of the eight can be allowed to be manipulated? If the answer is not 'no' I'd be pretty surprised.
"We're not happy. I'm bemused that the AFL hold such a strong stance upon teams playing to their merits at the bottom of the ladder and even in the middle of the ladder because the integrity of the competition is at stake.
"And yet they hold a different view where the upper ends of the ladder are concerned. The question is should the rules be changed? They should certainly be reviewed.
"For us it severely impacts on the potential of a home final in Adelaide, so it's disappointing for our club and in my view for a myriad of reasons it's disappointing for the competition. But we've got to play the hand we've been dealt, we've done that all year."
McLachlan said he had closely examined the detail behind the playing on merit rule which was examined and refreshed two years ago as a result of the Melbourne tanking scandal and other incidents where clubs manipulated results for improved draft choices.
As the domino effect of North's decision threatened to further impact on round 23, with betting briefly suspended on Thursday on the Geelong-Adelaide game, McLachlan said the vexed issue of maximising teams' potential for finals was an issue across world sport.
"At first glance this doesn't feel quite right," conceded McLachlan. "However, when weighing up all the different circumstances and factors that can and do occur in a football season we have the right rule in place to safeguard the integrity of the competition.
"I can assure supporters that this rule was reviewed in detail two years ago and it is the right rule.
"The issue of resting players during the home and away season in order to maximise the ability to win in finals is an issue for every team sport around the world, and causes controversy when it occurs.
"Based on all the circumstances and expected outcomes of matches there is no incentive for North Melbourne to deliberately lose. If there was we would be very concerned."
But Adelaide have questioned McLachlan's stand and challenged the notion that North had no incentive to lose. Fagan said: "We'll front up wherever against whoever, but if I take the temperature of the football community it suggests that people are concerned.
"I think it's clear-cut. I've made representations to the AFL to clarify the rules that allow clubs to do this and I keep going back to whether the integrity of the competition has been challenged. I, along with the vast majority of the football community, would suggest that it has been."
