Cooney reveals mid-2000s change that “ruined footy”

Brownlow Medallist Adam Cooney says the behind the goals vision that was introduced in the mid-2000s has had a vast impact on the state of the game.

The former Bulldog argued that the added footage put players under the microscope more and led to increased fatigue.

“Get rid of behind the goals vision, I’ve said this before,” he told the AFL Nation pre-game show.

“That ruined football for many a player as well.

“As soon as they introduced the behind the goals vision, it showed up when players weren’t actually working and when they were walking at times.

“In the back of your head when you were playing, when they brought the behind the goals vision in, the thought was I’ve got to run here because I don’t want to get shown up in the review on Monday.

“There’s a lot more accountability in footy since they brought it in and it changed the game completely.”

Cooney says increased fatigue is a key reason for the demise of exciting footy and thinks the rotations should be further capped.

“I think they really need to reduce interchange back to about 40,” he said.

“When the fatigue factor kicks in, that’s when games open up.”