Should the AFL condense its matches?
Columnist By Adrian Musolino, 21 Apr 2010 Adrian Musolino is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- AFL, football, Ross Lyon, St Kilda Saints
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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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- AFL, football, Ross Lyon, St Kilda Saints
April 21st 2010 @ 10:42am
Republican said | April 21st 2010 @ 10:42am | Report comment
Oh for heavens sake – leave it alone.
The game already has an affirming broad market. This is typical of a culture that must genericise everything.
What is it with all these truncated products at the mo – do the newer generations all have A.D.D or something?
The more we tamper the worse footy has become.
There is something quite organic about our game which is ironically referred to as ‘Aust Rules’ by some. Aust Footy is actually less structured or bogged down by the technicalities of say Union, which is why many of us prefer our home grown brand.
Can’t we all just appreciate the diversity of respective codes rather than always comparing and compromising what we have, because thats what we will be doing in shortenening Australian Footy. After that – will we see it played on a rectangular pitch withn a rooond ball!
This has more to do with change for change sake as much as anything else and perhaps Lyon has way to much down time in pondering such nonsense as the Saints coach.
April 21st 2010 @ 1:38pm
todd said | April 21st 2010 @ 1:38pm | Report comment
Adrian has raised some useful pointa however the formula for AFL’s success is partly built around the 4 quarter concept and the “unknown” time periods in each quarter. would remove the “time on” and limit each quarter to 25 minutes plus allowance for injury time. Other than that its a unique qport that does not need to compare itself to the Football or Rugby codes. The longer time period in matches is supported by the style of the game, ie a contact but not collision sport (as with the Rugby codes and where the risk for injury from contact is higher). Anyway Go the DEE’s
April 21st 2010 @ 4:13pm
B.C Queenslander said | April 21st 2010 @ 4:13pm | Report comment
Ross Lyon might be a coach, but a visionary he isn’t.
Whenever I hear him speak he sounds like he’s talking to someone at the pub and this is that kind of talk. Rubbish.
The game is BOOMING and he wants to tinker with it………..hmm.
April 21st 2010 @ 5:37pm
ren said | April 21st 2010 @ 5:37pm | Report comment
it aint broke.
April 21st 2010 @ 7:05pm
Black Diamonds said | April 21st 2010 @ 7:05pm | Report comment
No way.
Sorry Ross – I’m a Saint – but this is one of the stupidest ideas I have heard.
Why shorten the game? The game – at about 2 1/2 hours is a perfect length as is.
Plus – it also allows for more ad breaks given the greater length of time and thus more advertising dollars and thus more TV money and thus more money to plow back into the game and clubs and spend on players etc.
Shortening it will risk diluting this as well. Just a stupid idea all round Ross. Stick to coaching – recent results indicate you’re quite good at that. 26 wins/29 matches ain’t bad at all. Losses all by basically a kick as well.
April 21st 2010 @ 8:09pm
Marshall said | April 21st 2010 @ 8:09pm | Report comment
2 hours is a long time and most sports, excluding the American ones, don’t go for anywhere near as long. It’s worth considering and it could help entice a new audience.
April 22nd 2010 @ 3:55pm
Republican said | April 22nd 2010 @ 3:55pm | Report comment
Marshall
Test cricket runs for five days, golf rounds go on all day, not to mention racing meets, motor sport and the list goes on, so lets keep this in pespective please.
Why would Aust Footy need a new audience, since they already have a huge following and growing? if you or anyone else as a short little span of attention then by all means, follow something thats over before it even gets started. You are under no obligation to subject yourself to the Indigenous code.
Perhaps other codes should be taking a leaf out of Aust Footy’s book in extending their respective game time?
Cheers
April 22nd 2010 @ 10:43pm
Karlos said | April 22nd 2010 @ 10:43pm | Report comment
30 minute quarters includes 10 minutes of doing nothing (time on) and I don’t know how you can get that out of the game. 2×40 or 45minutes without the huge half hour rest in the middle would make for greater stamina, but the amount of stoppages would remain a problem.