Should the AFL condense its matches?

 
Adrian Musolino Columnist

By , 21 Apr 2010 Adrian Musolino is a Roar Expert

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Melbourne's Michael Newton and Lynden Dunn look dejected at the finish of the AFL Round 02 match between the Collingwood Magpies and the Melbourne Demons at the MCG, Melbourne.

Is reducing AFL matches to two 45-minute halves, like its round ball compatriot, the answer to preserving players from the physical strain of modern footy? And does it herald Aussie Rules’ attempts to follow other sports in condensing their show?

That’s the suggestion made by St Kilda coach Ross Lyon as the game tries to grasp ways in which to slow the show, with the intensity and speed of the game, fuelled by the huge increase in rotations, being blamed for the number of injuries being tallied, particularly hamstrings, soft tissues and heavy impact knocks.

Of all the suggestions being floated in the media – such as interchange caps, a substitute system, etc – Lyon’s is undoubtedly the most extreme option.

While it’s debatable as to whether it would actually help, (it could just increase the intensity of the game and therefore its physicality, surely, while interchange usage, which is the cause of the problem in the first place, remains in place) Lyon also hinted that the game needed to condense its matches.

“Being a player and a coach you think ‘Geez, it goes for a long time’,” he said.

“It would be explosive and electric and it wouldn’t just become that war of attrition.

“Two hours is a long (time), 120 minutes it’s an enormous amount of time and the demands on the body, so maybe it is a shortened version.”

As Lyon stated, Aussie Rules lasts 120 minutes. In comparison, football is a 90-minute game. Rugby Union and League last 80 minutes.

Do AFL matches need to be cut, therefore?

There has been little suggestion or indicator from the fans that the show itself requires a change, with the current 30-minute quarters enabling a match to develop a flow and allowing the team who is down time to build their way back into the contest – even if some AFL matches do have the tendency to drag (as a Richmond fan, I wholeheartedly agree AFL matches can drag on way too long when your team is getting beat with no chance of clawing back).

Lyon’s suggestion would see a massive reduction in an AFL match: 25 per cent of the total game time would be cut out, the equivalent of a whole quarter.

Such a suggestion would see the AFL follow the development of so many other sports – see Twenty20 cricket, Rugby Sevens, World Series Netball, sprint races in motorsport, etc.

A shorter, condensed version of the game not only provides a more instantaneous spectacle – appealing to Gen Y with their non-existent attention spans – but also is more appealing to television as it allows for more schedule flexibility.

The AFL has previously acknowledged it would consider an abbreviated form of the game as one way of spicing up the pre-season NAB Cup competition, and Andrew Demetriou’s praise of Twenty20’s growth and the possibility of considering shortened matches in the AFL hints that Lyon’s suggestion may not be far off. Read his quotes closely and you sense this is already on the agenda.

As the AFL expands and deals with the dilemma that causes on scheduling options, shorter matches could well pave the way for more rounds per season, allowing for more flexibility in the draw while preserving player wellbeing.

But reducing game time would not be the most disappointing aspect if Lyon’s suggestion was implemented, rather the loss of quarters would prove unpopular.

Playing quarters is part of the AFL fabric, and that should not be done away with.

It’s unlikely, also, that the AFL would resort to simply replicating a system so well associated with a rival code.

Are 25-minute quarters the simple compromise? Why not? 100-minute matches while retaining quarters would work, or even 20-minute quarters if the AFL was keen to substantially reduce its game time – less drastic but equally as effective.

Lyon is on the right track, and while he was trying to solve one issue – injury toll – with this suggestion, he may have helped along the debate on another: scheduling.

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