A level(er) playing field

Edit: It has come to our notice that we have got entirely the wrong process in mind in this post. Please see our more recent post, We're confused, for a full mea culpa.

Back in October when the broad details for the 2011 pre-season competition were released, AussieRulesBlog expressed concern for the team playing in the first and third games.

In the first round of the competition, Team A will play a 20-minute ‘half’ versus Team C, then a 20-minute ‘half’ against Team B, followed by Team B and Team C competing in a third 20-minute ‘half’.

The Hun reports today that teams playing the first and third games will be able to use as many players as they want and will have a 90-minute break between games.

We noted in October that the AFL were still involved in discussions with clubs and their fitness staffs about how these mini lightning premiership formats would be implemented.

We also commented that Team A and Team B would be advantaged by both continuity and coming up against a team that had not warmed up in match conditions.

As is now made clear in the fixturing, attempts have been made to mitigate some of these advantages.

The second game will commence 65 minutes after the start of the first game, and the third 65 minutes after the start of the second.

With 20-minute game duration, that’s a 40-minute break between games.

Team A and Team B will, apparently, be limited to a normal 18-man plus interchange squad. Team C, meanwhile, will be free to introduce as many replacement players as they like.

From a fitness and player management perspective the playing field has been considerably evened. But we’re left with an even more insidious problem.

With 40-minute breaks between games, will the AFL roll out Grand Final style ‘entertainment’ between games?

Or perhaps we should just pack a copy of War and Peace in with our normal footy gear?