Opinion Footy was better with Channel 10's 5 minute warning

Was footy better with the 5 minute warning?


  • Total voters
    59

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Rowan18

Norm Smith Medallist
Feb 20, 2018
7,284
14,699
AFL Club
West Coast


I'm going to use a couple of examples particularly close to my own heart, the 2006 and 2018 West Coast premierships.

For those who may not remember or weren't old enough to remember - Channel 10 used to change the traditional countdown clock seen on all modern AFL telecasts to a count-up clock for the final 5 minutes of matches they televised.

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This gave viewers at home a similar level of suspense to those who were at the ground. It meant that viewers didn't know when the siren would go, as we all know the count-up clock doesn't stop for stoppages and scores.

In blowouts this was largely redundant, but for close, nailbitting affairs like the 2006 Grand Final, it got the heart racing just a little bit more. Losing an idea of when the siren would go made me personally sit on the edge of my seat right up until the last stoppage on Sydney's right forward flank. When the siren went it was a release of pure elation.

Contrast this to the 2018 Grand Final, where once the ball went out of play in West Coast's right forward pocket we knew the game was done, as we knew there was under 10 seconds left thanks to 7's traditional countdown clock. At this point my family all started hugging and ya'hooing as we knew the game was done. Had the 5 minute warning still been in use, we would've still been glued to the tele. It would've made an already adrenaline rushing afternoon go up another notch. I may have actually died without the clock in this match.

Couldn't agree more. I nearly had a heart attack in 06, in 18 we knew it was pretty safe once Shuey marked the kick-in. The commentary was a lot better too, Bruce had too much time to trot out his prepared line in 18, which sounded very forced.
 

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Do the Dew

Club Legend
Feb 14, 2019
2,080
6,645
Stuart Dew's Gut
AFL Club
Richmond
I hope a count down clock isn't permanently introduced at the live games. Makes it so much worse when you're sitting there and you know exactly how long. Can sap the energy and in a tight game, can definitely take the edge off that final roar once the siren goes. We've all been to those games where for the last few minutes you expect the siren to go any second and it's properly exhilarating.

Even on the TV I used to love 10s old coverage with the count up clock. Makes the close games even better.
 
Jul 16, 2009
4,346
4,023
Under a Big Sky
AFL Club
St Kilda
footy isn't the type of game that suits a countdown. american sports like gridiron and basketball are constant stop start affairswith many very short plays based on time to execute. union gets away with it because play can continue minutes after after siren goes. footy and soccer are much better with the exact end unknown to the viewer and player .
i'm for the suspense of the count up clock from the get go.
 
Mar 20, 2002
24,079
24,761
Mosman Village
AFL Club
Carlton
Why they moved away from just having a standard clock running with no-one knowing how much time-on was left in the quarter staggers me.

The suspense in not knowing how long is left is way more intense & interesting for the fans.

The other thing is that having the players know there is a certain amount of time left has led to the introduction of the "milking the clock" tactic which is undoubtedly one of the biggest blights on our game ever.
 
Mar 21, 2017
8,185
14,678
Perf
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Arsenal, Scorchers, Scuderia Ferrari
Having no clock is stupid and annoying. Should have it at the ground for people who paid to be there. Enforced ignorance isn't exciting.
Going through the thread disliking every post that offers a different view to yours isn’t exciting either.
 
Aug 27, 2014
38,196
41,193
spacetime
AFL Club
Carlton
Other Teams
there are no other teams worthy
Having no clock is stupid and annoying. Should have it at the ground for people who paid to be there.
Agreed, all I need to know is how long in the quarter it has been going.
15 minutes in quarter, 20, 25 or 30 minutes is all I need to know. If it gets well beyond 30 minutes I expect the siren to go any moment unless a dozen to 15 goals been kicked in the quarter and then at times it could go 35 minutes. Something showing me what stage of quarter it is, is all I need to know.
 

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There haven't been any games played yet this year. Last year the bench staff from each club held up a card with the number of minutes left so all the players knew.
Which I reckon shouldn't happen. The only person at the ground that should have access to the time left is the time keeper.
 
Going through the thread disliking every post that offers a different view to yours isn’t exciting either.

Bomberboy has given out more 'dislike' posts on BigFooty than the other 102,303 members have combined :rolleyes:

EDIT: As demonstrated below.
 
Last edited:
Sep 13, 2015
18,683
48,481
Hillary Step
AFL Club
Richmond
Other Teams
76ers
Why they moved away from just having a standard clock running with no-one knowing how much time-on was left in the quarter staggers me.

The suspense in not knowing how long is left is way more intense & interesting for the fans.

The other thing is that having the players know there is a certain amount of time left has led to the introduction of the "milking the clock" tactic which is undoubtedly one of the biggest blights on our game ever.
By now teams would have their own person taking the time if it wasn’t available so that’s a moot point. They probably have one doing it now.
 
Mar 24, 2017
5,019
5,859
Blackburn
AFL Club
Hawthorn
Other Teams
Box Hill Hawks
Five minutes was way too long. With time on there was often 8 - 9 minute to go. Knowing the there is only a minute left adds to the excitement. Sure, the final 10 seconds are flat, but overall it is better.
A one minute warning perhaps?
 
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