EIGHT almost certain goals would have been given away in matches last weekend, potentially changing the results of games, for breaches of the new interchange rules that were trialled in round eight and go live this week.

The new bench system, with free kicks and 50-metre penalties that lead to almost certain goals, come into effect this week with Sydney likely to be the hardest hit as any first breach will also see the $25,000 suspended portion of its $50,000 fine from earlier this year imposed.

An AFL review of games from the weekend established that eight breaches would have led to free kicks and 50-metre penalties. At least one club committed more than one breach.

The AFL would not say which teams or games had breached the rules in the trial, however with several close results — including two games decided by six points or less — the findings suggested the results of some games might have been different had the rules been in force last week during the trial.

AFL spokesman Patrick Keane said while there had been eight occasions when free kicks would have been paid last weekend it is unknown what impact the first free kick and 50-metre penalty would have had on players in that game and other later games.

The changes to the interchange, which involves the passing of notes and names being recorded before players can enter or leave the field, came about after Sydney was found to have had 19 men on the ground in the last minutes of its drawn match with North Melbourne.

The club was then fined $50,000 with half of the fine suspended for a second offence. Although the AFL imposed the penalty under the slightly different system it also knew the rules were about to change.

A suspended sentence would have been worthless if it was only ever intended to be in place for the three or four weeks it took to draft changes to the system.

Sydney has been advised that its first breach of the new laws will activate the $25,000 suspended fine in addition to the free kick and 50-metre penalty.

All clubs face smaller fines for technical breaches of the interchange process, such as stepping outside the interchange box.

The response to the changes among clubs has been mixed, from Paul Roos' strident opposition to other clubs' tepid approval.

However, Adelaide coach Neil Craig, who practised interchanges at training last week, saw the change as a challenge. "What the rule has done is show the incompetence of our footy clubs … I think the new rule is going to tighten the whole thing up as far as the interchange goes and it will be up to the clubs to see how good they can get at it."

Hawthorn has written to the AFL recommending several changes, including: removing the requirement to notify the steward before an interchange occurs; dropping the 50-metre penalty that is imposed automatically in addition to the free kick; and cutting the fines of players for small steps over the line of the interchange box. Richmond and the Swans will today file submissions with the AFL.

"It's a change, all right. It slows things down and I am not sure whether that was part of the AFL's agenda," said Adelaide chief executive Stephen Trigg.

Geelong football manager Neil Balme said the change was part of the gradual evolution in football to full professionalism across all facets of the game.

"We thought it was easy to understand and pretty easy to do. Certainly it's more time-consuming and more complex but our blokes were pretty happy with it."

Essendon football manager Travis Auld said there were simpler ways of achieving the same result.

Brisbane Lions coach Leigh Matthews back-pedalled slightly from his comments about the rule changes on Saturday night after calling the AFL yesterday to ask for clarification.

"They pointed out a couple of things that I'd overlooked. Like for instance, you'd have a player in the dressing room being stitched up, or something, so the interchange steward could look at the interchange bench and say 'Gee, there's only three on it, there must be 19 on the field'," he said.

"So players who are on interchange could potentially be out of view, so that's one reason to make sure each change is logged."

Matthews said the "holding" area of the interchange was good, but queried the severity of the penalties. "If someone puts his foot out of the holding area as his teammate's coming to the boundary line, that being an automatic free kick, I'm not sure if I'd put that in the over-reaction category," Matthews said.

With ANDREW STAFFORD