AFL will consider shortening the length of halftime break
AFL legend Kevin Sheedy has weighed in on the league’s radical idea to shorten the halftime break, saying whoever came up with the idea might need a holiday. Vote and have your say.
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Australian football legend Kevin Sheedy has savaged the AFL’s plan to slash the halftime break, saying whoever came up with the idea was out of touch and “desperately needed a holiday”.
Club footy bosses were on Thursday briefed on the contentious plan, which would see the break halved from 20 minutes to 10, and potentially could see the players remain out on the ground during the interval.
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The proposal had already been pitched to club CEOs on Wednesday and was briefly discussed by the AFL’s Competition Committee on Tuesday.
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But it has received strong backlash from football fans with almost 80 per cent opposing the idea in a Herald Sun online poll (see below), desperate to leave one of the game’s traditions as it is.
Sheedy could barely believe it when told of the AFL’s proposal, saying it would impact on players and coaches from doing their job as effectively as they can.
“They must be kidding themselves,” Sheedy told the Herald Sun.
“Obviously, it snows in Canberra, so you can see the players being frozen out there, and when it rains in Melbourne on a Thursday or Friday night, players will get drenched and might end up with pneumonia.
“I wouldn’t like them (the AFL) to be planning a war.
“Whoever brought it up, tell them they need a holiday.”
Sheedy used halftime breaks as part of his coaching strategy across 27 seasons at Essendon.
Famously, he inspired the Bombers onto victory over Adelaide in the 1993 preliminary final after trailing by seven goals at halftime.
The Bombers not only won the match, but went on to win the premiership the following week.
“You have to reassemble (your team at halftime), you need time for players to be looked at by your medicos,” he said.
“I know we are all trying to finetune things, but I am not sure about this one.
“There must be something very important coming up (at AFL headquarters) to divert the attention with this story. Something’s coming ...”
AFL Fans’ Association spokesperson Cheryl Critchley expressed her concerns about the mooted change.
“They (the AFL) obviously haven’t queued for the women’s toilets at a Dreamtime or Anzac Day game ... if you don’t leave before the quarter finishes it could take the full 20 minutes or more,” Critchley tweeted.
Herald Sun chief football writer Mark Robinson detailed: “AFL and Club bosses forgetting the fans – again. Fans need 20 minutes to discuss game, meet friends, kids, toilet, food, queues. AFL, club bosses don’t know what a queue is … “
His tweet had more than 1200 likes.
Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett said the AFL commission hadn’t been interested in preserving the history of the game for a number of years now, but promised strong fan opposition to this potential change.
It would see the traditional halftime Auskick matches shifted to the pre-game slot.
A league spokesman confirmed the changes were a serious option for the 2020 season.
The quarter-time and three-quarter time breaks will remain at six minutes, the spokesman said.
Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson believes the game is far too long but any changes made to the length of breaks must be must with the welfare of the players front of mind.
That means any potential change must be trialled first to gauge how it impact on the players and their performances in the second half of matches.
“Mine (concern) is more for not so much messages the coaches can get to the players, mine is what’s best for the players in terms of being able to perform again in the second half. Does 20 minutes allow them to play better in the second half?,” he said on RSN927.
“If that’s the case then keep it at 20 minutes. If there’s no difference, let’s get it back to 10 or even five minutes and get the game over quicker.
“Our whole game goes for far too long. We’ve got 30-32-minute quarters by the time you have time on and all that sort of stuff.
“Our guys are playing 100 minutes thereabouts and in some cases 110-115 every week. It’s unbelievably taxing.
“My attitude to it all is what’s best for the game in terms of spectacle and what’s best for the welfare of the players? If the answer is that their performance isn’t going to be affected only after a 10-minute half time, let’s go for it.
“I’d like them to trial it before they go headlong into it.
“The players really don’t know. They might come out of that (trial) and say how good was that? Let’s just keep the game going, we had momentum, let’s just keep rolling with it or they might hate it.”
Shorter half time 👌 Auskick pre game. Night games start much earlier 7pm. If we are worried players won’t get enough rest. Left field idea, unlimited rotations 😂
— Scott Pendlebury (@SP_10) November 27, 2019
Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury has thrown his support behind the possible move but had a cheeky idea to ensure it doesn’t impact too greatly on players.
“Shorter half time (OK hand emoji) Auskick pre game. Night games start much earlier 7pm. If we are worried players won’t get enough rest. Left field idea, unlimited rotations (laughing emoji),” he tweeted.
Ex-Sydney player Luke Ablett tweeted the idea was “incredibly f---ing stupid”.
Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett expressed dismay at the move.
“Well, of course, this is the first I’ve heard about it,” Kennett said.
“It might be one thing for the CEO’s to be told, and maybe the CEOs will inform their boards, but this is a fundamental change to the game.
“You would have to be concerned about the effect on players, who have spent considerable time on the field before the half time break and what this will do to their physical wellbeing.”
The plan comes just days after the AFL floated another plan for players to challenge umpire decisions and call for their own goal reviews.
“I can’t believe that is right because if that is correct, it will potentially lengthen the game by minutes if not hours,” Kennett said.
“Maybe AFL head office is just entering the silly season.
The former Victorian premier said the AFL “hadn’t been interested in the history of the game for years”.
“We’ve now got three umpires, they talk of four. There are rule changes almost every year.
“The AFL are not the proud protectors of the historical game – they have created a new game altogether.
“They are running the risk – again – of putting the viewing public totally off-side.”
But Geelong captain Joel Selwood said he would support a move to truncate games.
“Even being a fan of footy, people can lose interest really quickly so to cut the games shorter with the half time period, I am all for that,” he told the Herald Sun.
“It takes you three minutes to get down and three minutes to get back up so you are already wasting six minutes already.
“To be honest it wouldn’t be much of a change for us. I reckon you would stay up and play it for what it is.”
Selwood said he understood the importance of maximising appeal for fans in a competitive sporting marketplace.
“We have to kick more goals and make sure it’s quick but we have to get the coaches on board. It’s more just as a fan I am saying it,” he said.
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“Change is good. I am for change.”
Essendon coach John Worsfold said he wouldn’t be fussed if the AFL made the change.
Recruiting sources said the half time reduction, mooted just an hour before the start of Wednesday night’s draft, had the potential to change how they ranked players.
Prospects with poor endurance could be looked upon less favourably in lineball decisions. They also said it would create havoc for high-performance teams.
One scout joked that coaches would ping hamstrings while attempting to sprint to the rooms for the half time break.