AFL wears short-term criticism

THE AFL will hold firm on its controversial 16-minute quarters despite a wave of criticism from fans and senior players after Thursday night’s draw.

Richmond star Jack Riewoldt and Pies midfielder Taylor Adams both said the game was too short after both teams scored 5.6 (36) in the 94-minute contest.

But the league has told clubs they might have to expect as many as three five-day breaks later in the year and is also aware of the lack of conditioning of players.

The potential for a grand final where one team surging home loses as it runs out of time in a 23-minute final quarter will fill some traditionalists with dread.

But having committed to shortened quarters for 2020 there would also be integrity implications if the AFL reverted to longer quarters. Hawthorn great Jordan Lewis told Fox Footy on Thursday night 30-minute quarters gave teams a chance to work on tactics early on in a quarter then break teams apart when they fatigue.

Champion Data stats show red-time scoring (20-plus) is the highest but only marginally, with 35 per cent of scores compared to 0-10 minutes (32 per cent) and 11-20 minutes (33 per cent).

Adams said he couldn’t wait for a return to full-length games.

“My opinion, initially walking off, was that the game was too short,” he told K Rock post-game.

“That’s obviously pretty blunt, but I just felt like it didn’t give a team an opportunity to really grind it out and create that edge where you’ve almost got a team on the ropes through fatigue.

“They [Richmond] were able to do that in the third quarter, and if the quarter went a little bit longer, I reckon we would have been in a bit of trouble.”

Asked about the potential for extra time post-match, Riewoldt told SEN Radio he wanted full-length games.

“I reckon I would prefer longer quarters before we start talking about extra time,” he said. “But it is what it is, we are caught in a COVID flux and have to adapt like every side does and every other person does in their life. It’s not footy as we would love it to be but it’s better than nothing.”