Short quarters a ’once off’

REDUCED quarters are unlikely to feature beyond this season, AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan has revealed.

Quarters have been shortened this season to 16 minutes plus time-on — trimmed from the usual 20 — in an effort to ensure if games need to be played on a shorter turnaround in order to complete the season, they can be.

But McLachlan said it was a feature that was unlikely to be carried into 2021.

“I don’t think so,” he said on 3AW. the canned crowd noise was good. I thought it was a positive,” he said.

“Our broadcasters, I know, are looking at lots of different things. I know they’re looking at that.

“I thought it added to the atmosphere of the game.

“I think so (our game is slightly different in tempo than NRL) . . . it’s about how you do it in real time.

“I’ve seen a couple of things they’ve been trying . . . but they’ve been trying some stuff. There’s some real skill in it — some technical stuff.

“They’re wanting to get it right.”