Game time "more than likely" to be reduced from 2012

[grimface_87]

Found this in the staging article on The Age:

Anderson said the increasing length of games had become a priority for the AFL and it seemed more than likely the league would move next season to abolish time-on for between 15 to 20 minutes in each quarter, meaning quarters would rarely exceed 30 minutes.

Anderson said the laws of the game committee would look at establishing time-on only for the last five minutes of each quarter. He said the number of boundary throw-ins and stoppages had meant quarters ran for up to 37 minutes this season.

I heard this was being considered but this seems like it has been escalated. What a terrible change if this comes in.

I think a major cause for the longer quarters is the increasing amount of time between when a goal is kicked and the ball is bounced so the TV networks can show more ads and a replay.

 

[vWestCoast]

I love how they say quarters have gone for up to 37 minutes this year. How many times would that of happened ? Once ? What's the shortest because you could say quarters have been as short as x amount of time.

Anderson and co are ruining our game. Personally I'm ****ing sick of the constant bullshit from all departments of footy, umpires, rule changing ect.

 

[cleomenes]

When I put matches on to DVD, my recorder will allow 2 quarters on fast record. This means 60 minutes. My sample is Collingwood matches only, but these are clearly not producing 37 minute quarters or anything like it. Another stupid suggestion, one of so many from this panel in search of a purpose.

 

[Fevola99]

Good I look forward to St Kilda forcing stoppages and paddling the ball out of bounds for 20 minutes when they're in front

 

[HyperAgressiveDonk]

It's amazing that these idiots are still running things. The AFL needs a change sooner rather than later.

 

[HyperAgressiveDonk]

Good I look forward to St Kilda forcing stoppages and paddling the ball out of bounds for 20 minutes when they're in front

St Kilda is the only team I don't watch reguarly because of their style of play. If you don't like the way they play, just turn off the TV like I do.

 

[Byron_Clanger]

Good I look forward to St Kilda forcing stoppages and paddling the ball out of bounds for 20 minutes when they're in front

Lol isn't that they reason why they made the umps stop the clock in the first place

 

[alfy!]

Dear god what a bad proposal.

 

[Face_Plain]

Like OP said, it's the AFL's fault. After every goal kicked the players twiddle their thumbs for 45 seconds so ads can get played. Then they wonder why quarters go for longer, absolute joke.

 

[PrideOf]

Cool idea Adrian. I presume ticket prices will go down to compensate?

You've gotta admire the AFL. Completely impotent on the big issues but when it comes to trimming seconds off a match or calling Ricky Petterd's mum a GILF, they come down hard.

 

[Riders of Rohan]

Wait for them to put it on the last 5 minutes of each quarter

 

[Damon_3388]

We should just have 25 minutes per quarter fully timed already, and get rid of time-on altogether.

 

[beez]

We should just have 25 minutes per quarter fully timed already, and get rid of time-on altogether.

2 mins to go, a team is up by 3 points, "oh no my knee, better call for a stretcher"

 

[Rioli magic]

I thought they would just outlaw tackling to deal with stoppages......

Cough "injuries from tackles have skyrocketed in recent years"....

 

[jonesy86]

They made a small change a few years ago.

The clock used to keep ticking whenever there was a ball-up around the ground, now the clock stops and there are a lot more stoppages. Therefore a lot more time added-on.

I wouldn't mind 25min qtrs, first 20mins runs continuously (only stops for bloodrule and stretcher) and then for the final 5mins each qtr, time goes on and off like it currently does. This way each qtr would run between 27-30mins.

 

[Damon_3388]

2 mins to go, a team is up by 3 points, "oh no my knee, better call for a stretcher"

And with the clock being stopped the entire time play is stopped, there'd be absolutely no advantage in doing that.

I don't think I was clear enough with (or assumed people knew what I meant) when I said "fully timed"; I meant that we'd just have 25 minutes of play each quarter, with the clock stopping at all stoppages in play, like they do in the majority of timed team sports. No time-on, no injury time, etc.

 

[Rassilon]

And with the clock being stopped the entire time play is stopped, there'd be absolutely no advantage in doing that.

I don't think I was clear enough with (or assumed people knew what I meant) when I said "fully timed"; I meant that we'd just have 25 minutes of play each quarter, with the clock stopping at all stoppages in play, like they do in the majority of timed team sports. No time-on, no injury time, etc.

Isn't that the definition of time-on? Stopping the clock when there's stoppages in play? Isn't that exactly what we do now?

 

[red+black]

Isn't that the definition of time-on? Stopping the clock when there's stoppages in play? Isn't that exactly what we do now?

Yes that is what occurs now, but it's not for what used to happen.

The clock stops far too often these days.

I agree with the AFL that the game time needs to be reduced. 30 minute quarters should be a rarity.

 

[Rassilon]

Alrighty, well then can we just return to the previous system? The umpire only calls time off if there's a significant delay with retrieving the ball, out of bounds, and injuries. Sounds better than having an arbitrary period of time where the rules change during the quarter.

 

[XFactor1979]

2 mins to go, a team is up by 3 points, "oh no my knee, better call for a stretcher"

Get up and get on with the game!

But dale thomas has broken a fingernail his girlfriends are not happy that the evil referee has forsaken him

 

[Damon_3388]

Isn't that the definition of time-on? Stopping the clock when there's stoppages in play? Isn't that exactly what we do now?

I'm know I'm confusing the time-on/time-off concept with injury time (which occurs in the round ball game), but it's really just a different way of making up for the same thing - playing time lost due to incidental time wastage. What I'm saying is there should just be a uniform number of minutes each quarter (25 seems about right), with a countdown clock visible to all that stops during all stoppages in play (the ball going out of bounds, a set shot at goal, a goal having been scored, etc). That obviously sounds similar to what we already have, except I'm proposing a system without visibly differing (on the gameclock) lengths to quarters and (this part will probably be controversial) takes away the mystery of when the siren is going to blow. This way, the league gets to "control" the length of games somewhat, without the game itself being changed too significantly.

 

[southcoast]

I think a major cause for the longer quarters is the increasing amount of time between when a goal is kicked and the ball is bounced so the TV networks can show more ads and a replay.

Good pick up - hadn't considered the effect of the TV ad. Very good pick up.

 

[Chasing the Dream]

We want shorter quarters, the answer is simple in my mind.

Let's get rid of the bounce.

IMO, this would save a heap of time for two reasons. Firstly a ball up is called for, the ump just gets in there and throws it up, clock stopped for a minimal time only. Currently, umpires wait for the pack to clear, wipe their nose, clean the ball, brush their hair, then bounce the ball.

Secondly, a quicker ball up should cause less stoppages due to the fact less players will get to many of those contests. Watching a game last week, I'd marveled at the work rate of players to make the next stoppage contest. Less players at stoppages should reduce the amount of stoppages.

The time between goals is also obviously a major issue. In the good old days, the goal was kicked, the boundary umpire retrieved the ball and returned it to the centre. Now they look at each other, and wait for the umpire to wave the flags then they go to retrieve the ball. At minimum an extra 10 - 15 seconds per goal, do that 25 - 30 times a game, there is an extra minute or two a quarter. Now TV wants shorter gamesnso they can show more adds, well the game was lengthened so they could show more adds

 

[Glees]

So this year they reduce the interchange from 4 to 3 in an effort to increase the players fatigue levels, so there is less collision injuries and the game opens up more in the second half.

Now next year they are going to reduce the length of the quarters meaning the players won't be as fatigued late in games because they won't have been playing for as long.

Am I missing something here or does this new idea go someway to making the reduced interchange irrelevant?

 

[grimface_87]

So this year they reduce the interchange from 4 to 3 in an effort to increase the players fatigue levels, so there is less collision injuries and the game opens up more in the second half.

Now next year they are going to reduce the length of the quarters meaning the players won't be as fatigued late in games because they won't have been playing for as long.

Am I missing something here or does this new idea go someway to making the reduced interchange irrelevant?

It's just rules being brought in to fix problems that previous rules created. Unfortunately the AFL are too pig-headed to just reverse the previous rule change that caused the issue in the first place.

They were the ones who brought in the rule a few years ago that whenever the umpire calls for a ball up the clock is stopped until he bounces the ball. Previously the umpire stopped the clock only if he felt there was a reason to and during most ball ups around the ground the clock just kept running.