Selwood doubles down on rule change concern

Geelong captain Joel Selwood has doubled down on his concern over the length of AFL games.

Selwood raised concerns about the return of 20-minute quarters prior to the 2021 season after games were condensed last season.

The AFL reduced quarters to 16 minutes in 2020 to ensure a 17-game season could be played during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Selwood thinks games were “more interesting” last season as a result of shortened quarters.

“Personally, I’ve had that opinion from the get-go too,” the veteran Cat told Sportsday.

“The game was over quickly, the quarters were over quickly, but the spectacle in how close the games actually were, I thought it was more interesting.

“I thought there was more power in the game last year than the gruelling, bad possessions that get picked up occasionally that we see now.

“A lot of kick-mark stuff… it goes to waste a little bit. I think it goes a little bit too long.”

Geelong coach Chris Scott also prefers shorter games.

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“I’m a huge advocate for the game being shorter – I think if the game stayed where it was last year, over a period of years, everyone would get used to it,” Scott told reporters in April.

“The quality of the game I think would go up, it would be more sustainable for the best players to play for a longer period of time.

“I just don’t buy into the idea that, let’s make the hardest game in the world even harder and run these guys out of the game when they’re 30.

“I don’t understand it … it (longer quarters) flies in the face of the way world sport’s going.”

Selwood will lead Geelong into battle in Friday night’s Grand Final rematch against Richmond at the MCG.