Electronic boards and signals to be used to aid clubs with rotations after crackdown on runners

With runners to spend less time on the ground, the AFL will introduce different approaches to assist clubs with their rotations and sending tactical messages.

An electronic board as used in soccer for substitutions. Picture: AP

The AFL will introduce LED-style electronic boards positioned around the interchange bench to assist clubs with their rotations in the wake of a crackdown on match-day runners this season.

The high-performance managers of the 18 AFL clubs were told of the potential move late last week in a meeting with AFL football operations manager Steven Hocking and AFL consultant James Podsiadly.

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It is understood clubs can use the boards to display symbols or signs — as well as numbers — to help send tactical messages to the players on the field.

The AFL has investigated the purchase of a number of electronic boards and could have them operational for the start of the JLT Community Series — which kicks off when Carlton and Essendon meet at Ikon Park on February 28.

The boards will allow clubs to display the jumper number of a player (or players) who are required to come to the interchange for a rest.

A North Melbourne runner delivers a message to player. Picture: Michael Klein

The use of symbols or signals — which has become common practice in US college football — was floated at the meeting with club high-performance managers.

Hocking and the AFL have been desperate to curb the messy on-field congestion during matches, following a number of incidents in recent years involving runners clogging up space during critical moments of games.

Several clubs were even issued with “please explains”, which prompted the decision to change the rules for the 2019 season.

Runners and water carriers are now banned from entering the ground during general play this season.

They can only come on to deliver a message or to deliver water after a goal has been kicked.

But with clubs anxious that their rotation systems could be adversely affected if there was a long gap between goals, the AFL may have struck a compromise with its electronic board proposal.

Smaller boards have been used on the sidelines in soccer for substitutions, though the use of symbols or signs would mean a different scenario at AFL level.

An example of how signs are used in college football to send messages to players.

US college football teams often use images, signals, memes and sometimes even emojis — known as “play cards” — to communicate strategic information to players.

Some teams use hidden messages to highlight tactical suggestions, while others even use it to try and confuse the opposition.

Some are specifically sports related; others can be far more cryptic and unusual, involving well-known athletes, performing artists, cartoon characters, and other images.

Originally published as Electronic boards and signals to be used to aid clubs with rotations after crackdown on runners