RODNEY Eade says players may need to be rested every six weeks to avoid injury as the impact of reduced interchanges kicks in.

The Gold Coast coach said although it was hard to tell just yet, he expected the cumulative fatigue of playing with just 90 interchanges would lead to more injuries as the season wore on.

Players cramping late in matches was a common sight over the weekend, particularly in his team's win over Fremantle.

Eade said coaches might need to be bold to avoid soft tissue injuries.

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"Rather than try and rest them and manage them too much through games, which we will some players, some players will need rest, as in whole games," Eade told Melbourne's SEN Radio.

"So every six weeks a player might need to have a spell.

"I know that's going to take a lot of courage but we're going to have to try and be predictive. You don't want players to get soft tissue injuries.

"That'll be the juggling act.

"I can see there'll be more injuries this year and it's how teams manage that and maybe get ahead of the curve."

Eade said he expected the hectic pace of the opening fortnight to slow down, with fatigue kicking in from about round six onwards.

"When that cumulative effect of fatigue kicks in, then how teams handle that, whether players get rested … or we as coaches decide to take some time off the clock and slow the game down, it'll be interesting to see which way it goes," he said.

"I couldn't see it would stay at that hectic pace for the whole season. There'll be some sort of lull at some stage."

Eade also had an update on star midfielder Jaeger O'Meara, saying the former NAB AFL Rising Star winner would make his return through the NEAFL in "five weeks' maybe".

O'Meara has not played since the final round of 2014, missing all of last season after rupturing his patella tendon.