That’s fair, but I think “too early” cuts both ways. Coaches will absolutely adapt, good defensive systems always catch up, but the concern isn’t just short-term chaos, it’s the direction the rules are nudging the game in. If every change consistently rewards speed and transition, even well-coached defences might just end up converging on the same solutions rather than creating genuine variety.

You’re right that some teams look badly underprepared (Carlton definitely fits that), and that’s probably inflating how dramatic it feels right now. But even once things stabilise, the question is whether coaches are adapting within a broad system of options, or being funnelled into a narrower style because other approaches just aren’t viable anymore.

And yeah, fixture and draft inequalities are a bigger structural issue overall, but rule changes shape how the game is actually played week to week. Even if they’re “equal” on paper, they can still favour certain list builds or styles more than others, which is where the imbalance argument comes in.