the brazillian soccer team used to practice with only 12 men on the field, this was due to the fact that if in a real pressure game, they lost a player due to a red card they knew that they could handle the extra pressure applied to them.
I dont know wayne bennet, but i know his knowledge of the game is greater than our collective brains, i think that maybe he is using the first half of the season as an extended boot camp for the lads.
If the players know that they have played 4-5 games with only 15 players, then they know come semi finals time, that if an injury or two occurs during the match, then they have more than enough experience in that situation.
I think head would have been informed of this, as i cant see wayne deliberatly signing head then driving his morale into the ground. This seems to be an absolute master stroke by WB, i think in the next 21 weeks we will look back at this and realise he saw something much deeper than what we were looking at.
IN WAYNE WE TRUST!