Will footy get a 20/20 type format?

[Twodogs]

Watching the 20/20 the other night got me thinking whether football could develop it's own version of 20/20 cricket or Rugby sevens.

Maybe part of the preseason could be turned into over to a version of footy with amended rules to make it more attacking. Like a Lightning premiership or a short tournament. An emphasis on higher scoring in a shorter version of the game. Maybe two halves of ten minutes with no tackling or only tackling from behind.

What else could be included?

[chef]

TBH I hate the idea and no teams will take it seriously.

It wouldn't be footy so you would have to have all new teams and players not aligned to AFL clubs, it would really be a whole new game like 20/20 is to Test cricket.

[LostDoggy]

Didn't we have some sort of variation a few years back - e.g 20 minute halves and played two games on the same day in the NAB Cup?

[chef]

Didn't we have some sort of variation a few years back - e.g 20 minute halves and played two games on the same day in the NAB Cup?

We had a Lightning Premiership a fair few years back that was never played again.

Then a couple of years back they had the teams in groups of 3 and you played 2 half games which was a bit ridiculous.

[Twodogs]

TBH I hate the idea and no teams will take it seriously.

It wouldn't be footy so you would have to have all new teams and players not aligned to AFL clubs, it would really be a whole new game like 20/20 is to Test cricket.


Perhaps a chance to get an Aussie rules FA cup type competition?

[Twodogs]

Didn't we have some sort of variation a few years back - e.g 20 minute halves and played two games on the same day in the NAB Cup?


It was in 1996 for the centenary of the V/AFL celebrations. The main rule change I remember from that that when the ball went out of bounds it was a free kick against the last team to touch it.

That's the sort of rules we could introduce for this version of footy. If the ball hits the post and bounces back into play then it's play on. Smaller team numbers. Zones on the ground. An oddside rule. Everything would be up for discussion.

[soupman]

Isn't AFL 9's the answer to a shortened version of the game?

There is no way known that any of the AFL clubs would treat any concept like this with any respect, which means the best players will never play it. As a spectacle it won't happen, as a social game for amateurs maybe.

[chef]

Perhaps a chance to get an Aussie rules FA cup type competition?

It would still have to be a fair dinkum comp with the same rules and everything.

Maybe making the current season shorter and having a knock out comp, but the rewards would have to be great for teams to take it seriously eg. large prize money, maybe a bonus 4 points to start the regular season or maybe a first round draft pick.

[boydogs]

We've had this sort of thing in the NAB Cup, every year someone thinks they've got a great idea and changes it again.

Full length AFL games are still not as long as 20/20 games, we'll keep getting rule changes to improve the spectacle like the anti-time wasting rules (rushed behind, deliberate out of bounds, dragging it in holding the ball, 30 second shot for goal etc.) but I don't think we will see a drastically different format for premiership points

[Happy Days]

Kill this thread with fire before a journo reads it.

The AFL doesn't need a t/20 format because it can be enjoyed by those that want immediate gratification and those that want to intellectualise it, something that can't be said (for the former) about test match, and even ODI cricket.

[Greystache]

I like the idea of a footy on both wings with a line drawn down the centre of the ground to act as a pseudo boundary line. That way our supporters won't complain all the play was on the other side of the ground. The score can be tallied at the end and a winner declared. We could even keep the two sets of scores secret and have a final announcement after the game like a points decision in boxing.

I think we could also add a coach's powerplay option each half where they hit a button that starts a warning siren to announce a 5 minute multiball, whereby both balls are live all over the ground and the team who called the powerplay gets double points.

[Twodogs]

I like the idea of a footy on both wings with a line drawn down the centre of the ground to act as a pseudo boundary line. That way our supporters won't complain all the play was on the other side of the ground. The score can be tallied at the end and a winner declared. We could even keep the two sets of scores secret and have a final announcement after the game like a points decision in boxing.

I think we could also add a coach's powerplay option each half where they hit a button that starts a warning siren to announce a 5 minute multiball, whereby both balls are live all over the ground and the team who called the powerplay gets double points.


I was thinking of a multi ball option.

[SonofScray]

I would like an option whereby when a critical mass of fans scream "ON YER BIKE!" the umpire will stop play, a kid will wheel out a Huffy BMX with a basket, the player put the footy in the basket, rides up the fat side 70m and gets off, grabs the footy, bike is wheeled away and play starts again.