Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley says interchange signs are a waste of time
Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley has labelled the interchange signs a waste of space as a dual premiership player said the chaos was reminiscent of under-12s football.
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Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley has labelled interchange boards a waste of space as a dual premiership player said the sideline chaos was reminiscent of under-12s football.
Sign boards showing dice symbols, speed signs and plain colours were held up in bizarre and comical Round 1 scenes as coaches grapple with new runner restrictions.
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Buckley said the Magpies were one of few clubs refusing to use boards because he did not want to confuse his players.
But several Pies ran to the bench only to be turned around due to communication breakdowns during Friday night’s loss to Geelong.
The Brisbane Lions also opted against using boards.
The AFL wasted more than $50,000 on LED boards for all 18 clubs only to demand they be returned days later because the soccer-style experiment failed in the first round of the JLT due to poor visibility.
Clubs were told they could design their own boards to convey messages to players such as triggering rotations, implementing set plays, changing the tempo of games and alerting players how long is left in a quarter.
But Buckley said: “We’re not using them. We’re one of the few clubs that haven’t accessed it at this point.
“I look at it and I think it probably adds a bit more confusion than potentially what it solves.”
Dogs defender Taylor Duryea said players weren’t trained to look for the signs, rendering them almost useless.
“You still have to get some sort of signal or attention from the bench because you’re not looking towards the bench all the time for the sign,” Duryea told the Herald Sun.
“I don’t know if it’s a better look for the game having people standing on the sidelines — four or five people at a time waving to players and signs being held up.
“I’d prefer the runner. From a player point of view, you have to stand there on the sidelines and scream like its under-12s.”
Dogs sign holder Ben Graham’s loud whistle has been used to alert players to the boards, which can’t exceed 80cm by 60cm.
Premiership coach Luke Beveridge said “you feel helpless” after trialing his dice boards in the JLT.
“All you’ve got is an image to say what mode you’re in and I can’t get to the players,” Beveridge said.
“There were three or four things we wanted to do. We couldn’t use the runner.”
Buckley said pairing the signs with vision gave a window into what rival teams were trying to do.
“At this point, outside of our players knowing when there’s two minutes to go or three minutes to go at the end of a quarter, there’s nothing we feel we can’t communicate through our rotations,” Buckley said.
“We’re constantly having dialogue with our players around what information they would need when they’re out on the field or where some potential blind spots are.”
Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson said the runner restrictions — which led to the boards — was an over-reaction as the AFL attempted to clear on-field clutter.