Sam J. Reid of the Giants goes off injured during round seven. Picture: AFL Photos

THE AFL would be putting its collective "head in the sand" by ignoring the league-wide spate of injuries, Greater Western Sydney coach Leon Cameron says.

Cameron is calling on AFL hierarchy to lead a "mature discussion" about the raft of injuries at all clubs.

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Cameron's Giants lost three more players in their 67-point trouncing of Adelaide on Saturday.

The trio - Brent Daniels (hamstring), Sam Reid (hamstring) and Matt Buntine (concussion) - increase GWS' injured list to a dozen players.

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Some coaches including Port Adelaide's Ken Hinkley, Brisbane's Chris Fagan and Geelong's Chris Scott have called for the AFL to reduce the length of quarters.

The AFL this season returned to 20-minute plus time-on quarters after playing 16-minute terms in last year's coronavirus-condensed schedule.

And with the longer games, the AFL reduced the interchange cap from 90 to 75 with coaches worried about the impact on players.

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"It's a great debate," Cameron said.

"It (the amount of injuries) is a combination of everything.

"Clearly, it's faster in the first three or four rounds because of some of the rule changes - back straight up to 120-plus minutes and less rotations.

"I know a couple of coaches talked about shorter games. It's a hard one, I don't have the answer.

"But the facts are, there's a lot of injuries.

"So if we don't look into it and have a really good mature discussion among the AFL and key people, then we're putting our head in the sand."

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The Giants are among the hardest hit with a senior core including captain Stephen Coniglio, his predecessor Phil Davis, Nick Haynes, Adam Kennedy, Braydon Preuss and Matt de Boer at least a month away from returning from their respective injuries.

"Some sides are probably lucky at the moment but there's a lot of sides, you're seeing some really good key players that are not out there," Cameron said.

"And clearly what the fans want is to see our players play as much as they possibly can.

"It's just worth a really good mature discussion to see where you can land on this because it's such a taxing game, it's so hard."

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Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks rued his side's lack of effort in its crushing 67-point loss against Greater Western Sydney.

The Crows were brutalised around the contest, barely showing any fight as the Giants' midfield ran rampant.

"That is unacceptable at AFL level," Nicks said post-game.

"They beat us up ... we didn't get in the ring today. At halftime, we hadn't actually put the gloves on."

 

 

 

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