Leading onballer Dylan Shiel says the new shortened quarters could encourage better quality football ahead of Essendon’s season-opening clash with Fremantle on Saturday.
The AFL has reduced quarters to a length of 16 minutes plus added time in a bid to combat player fatigue in the likelihood of shorter gaps between matches this year given the unpredictable nature of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Shiel believes the shorter games will lend themselves to more skilful and high-intensity contests.
“We may come out of this having trialled shorter games and we may see the quality of games lift, players are able to produce better footy over the whole game, able to recover quicker and then be ready for another game in a shorter turnaround,” Shiel told RSN on Thursday morning.
“The idea is we’re shortening the game so players, if we need to, can start playing more games in a shorter turnaround to enable the other games played out throughout the year over a time that we don’t know is available to us.”
Shiel is among the league’s top echelon of explosive athletes and he thinks the new format could potentially provide him with an advantage over the AFL’s more aerobic players.
“For someone like me I see it as a great thing, because I am predominantly a fast-twitch fibre athlete, so the shorter the game the better for me athletically.
“But for a good mate of mine like (Hawthorn midfielder) Tom Scully, who is an aerobic animal, he probably wants the game to be as long as possible.
“It’s going to be interesting to see how it affects certain teams, but you’re going to see the overall intensity be lifted and held onto for longer.”
The Bombers were impressive in the Marsh Community Series, preparing for the home and away season with tough pre-season victories over highly-rated West Coast and Geelong sides.
Shiel said the team took good confidence out of its performances, where tinkers to the club’s overall game style proved effective and young Dons took the chance to shine on the big stage.
“There’s no denying that is was nice for the confidence,” he said.
“I was really excited and really happy that the things we’ve been training, focusing on and trying to make gains on strategically started to come out in those two Marsh games - even better that it was against some quality opposition.
“Is it the green light to say we’re going to have a fantastic year? Absolutely not, there’s still so much to do and play out.
“But the thing that I was really excited about was being a team that does have some significant players not playing at the moment, we were able to see a lot of younger players who haven’t played much footy come in and play some really good footy for the team.
“You guys would have noticed guys like Jordan Ridley and Brandon Zerk-Thatcher down back playing some fantastic footy on some really impressive forwards in Josh Kennedy and Tom Hawkins, there are some really good signs so far.”
While Shiel and his teammates will sadly be forced to play in front of an empty Marvel Stadium on Saturday afternoon, fans have been encouraged to show their support wherever they may be.
You can send your very own mighty message of support to show your love for the Bombers by following the link below.
