AFL Players Association president Patrick Dangerfield wonders whether the AFL made the right call by changing quarter length back to normal in 2021.<\/p>\n
The league had 16-minute quarters plus time-on in 2020 to allow greater flexibility as COVID-19 played havoc with the fixture.<\/p>\n
This allowed them to schedule games off shorter breaks and condense the total length of the season.<\/p>\n
Quarters will return to 20 minutes plus time-on in 2021 and Geelong star Dangerfield wonders whether they should have found a middle ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe challenge I think we\u2019ve all got is when the AFL comes out and says, \u2018alright, we\u2019re going to go back to normal size quarters, we\u2019re going to reduce interchange, we\u2019re going to reduce significantly footy department soft caps\u2019,\u201d he told SEN\u2019s Reel Adventures.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere could be an increase in injuries going back to normal length games, if there\u2019s games that are postponed and you\u2019ve got to try and squeeze them in somewhere, you\u2019re squeezing in a normal sized game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like the benefit, like if it was 16.5 minutes last year, got to 18 (minutes), just keep a little bit back so if we need to squeeze and cram games in a short period of time we can do it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe weren\u2019t ever going to get to 2021 and COVID was just going to disappear\u2026 we\u2019re going to have to continue to live with it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think at the moment the season will start on time\u2026 but we\u2019re going to have to be on the edge of our seats because it\u2019s got the chance to change.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 2016 Brownlow Medallist is anticipating another season heavily impacted by COVID-19 restrictions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe challenges are, every single state reacts differently to the contagion and spread when there\u2019s new cases that arise and obviously one of the biggest challenges has been this UK variant which we keep getting told is far more contagious, more deadly, etcetera,\u201d Dangerfield said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is the biggest challenge. Western Australia is a really big challenge because they just shut the borders to absolutely everyone, and we love the West, but they\u2019re really difficult to deal with in terms of the AFL competition and the integrity of the competition because you can\u2019t fly in and fly out unless you\u2019ve had 28 days of no community transmission.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut when it comes to the AFL competition, it\u2019s really, really difficult to run a competition that is fair for all, particularly when you\u2019ve got two clubs from Western Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s going to be challenges, there\u2019s every chance there\u2019s postponement of games at stages, particularly if we\u2019re not in hub situations and we\u2019ve seen this in the US, and it\u2019s been okay.\u201d<\/p>\n
The AFLW season has been knocked around by COVID-19 restrictions, with the fixture being released weekly and Victorian teams playing one another for the time being.<\/p>\n
The 2021 AFL season gets underway on Thursday, 18 March with Richmond taking on Carlton.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n