The draw is here to stay. The AFL has no plans to introduce extra time for home and away games as debate rages over whether the league should get rid of the draw following the Anzac Day lockout.
A day after a crowd of 93,644 were left in shock by the first draw of the season, Carlton coach Michael Voss yesterday backed his Essendon counterpart Brad Scott's call for fans decide
It comes after Fire captain Zach Merrett said he would have appreciated the extra time to find a winner.
The AFL introduced finals overtime in 1991 after the previous year's finals series was thrown into disarray by a tie between Collingwood and West Coast in a qualifying final, forcing the postponement of the calendar a week to accommodate a replay of the game.
The league scrapped the grand final draw after the Pies and St Kilda could not be separated on the last Saturday in September 2010.
But there are no plans for a change in the offseason, according to a league source with knowledge of the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak.
Kyle Langford after the final siren, when Essendon and Collingwood could not be separated.Credit: AFL Photos/Getty Images
Voss, whose Blues drew with Richmond on opening night last year, said he supported Scott's idea for the league to poll fans on whether the draw would remain, but expressed caution about the charge of additional work of the players.
“I would turn it over to the fans to see where they would like to go with it and what the future looks like,” Voss said.
“There are higher demands if you decide to go that route, that's the only consideration. If that happened a couple of weeks in a row, that would make things interesting.
“But I can see why there's an argument for it and I can also see why there's an argument against it. Traditionally I like it the way it is, but I'd like to lean on others to make the final call.”
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Scott, previously the AFL's head of football operations before becoming Fires coach, said he did not have a firm view either way.
“If you ask the fans, I think they probably want a result,” Scott said. “It's an even trade-off. I think we've fixed the major, you don't want a tie in a grand final as an industry. I don't have a firm view for and against. If I were the AFL, I'd poll the fans.”
Merrett said he was in favor of having extra time to find a winner.
“I love to compete, I love to win,” said Merrett, the Anzac Day medalist in the best field. “I hate to lose, so I would have loved to have played an extra five or 10 minutes to get a result, but it's a unique feeling to go away without a team song.”
Melbourne's Christian Petracca and Geelong's Patrick Dangerfield had differing views on overtime.
“I think if you talk to a lot of the players, I think they're going to play 10 more minutes,” Petracca told Nova yesterday. “Five to ten minutes … And then I figure after those 10 minutes if it's a tie, it's a tie. You can't keep playing.”
Dangerfield said he had always thought it would be nice to get a result, but added: “Having watched the game as a neutral observer yesterday, I felt the draw was appropriate for that game.
“Everybody leaves a little sad, but I thought it was good. How both teams had their momentum at different stages and chances to win. And that's the uniqueness of our game.
“So I've kind of come full circle in the draw and apart from obviously the finals, I feel like it's a good part of the game that can get a bit crazy at times. And that drive home a bit normal, but I didn't care…”
Thursday's draw was the 57th since the start of the AFL era in 1990 and the 167th in V/AFL history since 1897.
