The latter was particularly notable, as Martin is the type of highly rated player who theoretically would feature prominently in an opposition's plans for the match. Richardson, however, said the notion of one team gaining an advantage over, or disrupting the planning of, an opposition team was "not something we necessarily believe". "We certainly don't feel it's necessary to play games - but that's not to suggest that other clubs do." Gold Coast has twice this year fielded a debutant - Louis Herbert in round 18, Jack Leslie last weekend - who was named as an emergency but nevertheless featured on the team's banner. In the first instance the club said its cheer squad had "had two sides [of the banner] made up" in case Suns player Michael Rischitelli failed a fitness test and had to be withdrawn, which he was. Richardson said he considered the result of having no late changes to be a positive reflection on the close relationship between the club's coaching, medical and fitness panels. "It's not something that's been high on our list of priorities, but clearly communication between your coaching, medical and fitness departments, making sure you're making good and informed decisions, is a priority for any club. This hopefully demonstrates we're on the right track in that regard," he said.

"I wouldn't say it's a conscious thing. There's definitely a bit of luck involved. By the same token, you'd like to think you're able to make informed decisions . . . and firm up your side as early as possible in a week." Richardson said it is inevitable that players will occasionally get injured in the warm-up and have to be withdrawn, but reckoned the potential for that was increased for players who had been unable to prove they had overcome injury well before the start of the match. "If some guys are under a cloud and you're giving them every last minute to get up that's more likely to happen. We've tended to make decisions at the latest the day before," he said. Excepting Richmond and Carlton, the teams that have made the most changes generally are higher on the ladder and the team with the fewest are cellar-dwellers. North Melbourne (11), Hawthorn (10) and Geelong (8) all rank near the top, while Melbourne (1) and St Kilda (2) are behind only the Tigers. Port Adelaide has made the fewest changes of any finals-bound team, with three.