Fremantle senior coach Ross Lyon believes some young players across the AFL are playing too much football ahead of being drafted.
 
Lyon said the club manages its draftees’ workloads, but pointed to the evolving game plans that are increasing the risk of injury.

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“We only let them do 80 per cent of the full program as they’re building,” he said.
 
“A few of our kids for the first time this year have had about four or five stress reactions, which we’ve never had before, or rarely.
 
“I think it’s an indication of everyone doing more volume of training because the game is changing to more continuous…less explosive, more continuous.
 
“It puts the younger bodies at risk, even though we do our best to manage them.”
 
Lyon believes the volume of football they are playing before getting drafted is affecting some players in the AFL before they even begin pre-season with their new club.
 
“Often they come through out of the under 18 competition fully loaded up,” he said.
 
“They’re playing school football, TAC Cup and championship games, they’re getting ready for the (Draft) combine.
 
“So they often come in a little bit damaged.”
 
According to Lyon, youngsters that are chasing their AFL dream are not disclosing previous injuries so they can get their foot in the door.
 
“The kids are so desperate to get drafted, a lot of them, not all of them…but they’ll push through and hide information from people trying to look after them,” he said.
 
“I think it’s as much them pushing through and not sharing information they need to share and they can just end up a bit worn out.
 
“So they get to the clubs and they just need to be rebuilt a little bit.”