IT WAS only a few weeks ago it seemed like 100 interchanges a game was going to become a new football benchmark, much like inside-50s or contested possessions.

Collingwood had first broken the "ton" in a final in Perth last year, assuming the mantle of the king of rotation from Sydney. The Magpies had continued to run the bench like a tag-team wrestling match this season, their quota of engine-room runners always looking that little bit fresher for their more frequent spells on the pine.

With imitation the sincerest form of flattery in football, the race to keep the interchange ticking over was on, the average number of ons and offs across the competition soaring to as many as 84, the 100-mark passed at least seven times over the first eight rounds.

The frenetic activity at the interchange gates all came to head of course with the "19th-man affair" during North Melbourne's draw with Sydney, the AFL's revamping of the interchange procedures and the ensuing chaos produced via the antiquated Post-it note system of notifying changes.

Perhaps all those hassles have forced a rethink. Perhaps there's been a balance found after some initial overreaction to Collingwood's ploy. But whatever the explanation, the trend is now clearly moving in the other direction. The competition average has dropped steadily from 84 in round four, to 82, to 79, and this weekend, down to 73.

Adelaide on Saturday night made only 44 interchanges against Hawthorn, the lowest of any side this season. Hawthorn had just 63.

Adelaide's preparedness to keep its A-grade players on the ground longer hasn't seemed to have hurt it too much, staying neck-and-neck with surging opponents in two of its past three games, and running right over the top of Richmond in the intervening week.

Collingwood broke the 100 mark three times in the first six rounds, but its numbers have been reducing steadily, 91 in round eight, then 92, 94, 90, and yesterday 88. Even that was still 15 more than Carlton, but it was the Blues who finished the match much fitter-looking and full of running.

Football can tend to breed a sheep mentality. Are we now about to head back to the days of 19th and 20th men? Hardly. But you might see a few less-flustered looking interchange stewards. And not just because the AFL has cleaned up that rubbish with paperwork.