This article in today's Age made me think that it's time to ditch the runner.

Interested in the thoughts of others:

"Runners and their roles on gameday are under scrutiny from the AFL, with the league asking clubs to explain their purpose.

Football operations boss Steve Hocking has put them under the spotlight to determine whether they remain relevant in the modern game, although he is yet to put a line through them."

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/afl-puts-runners-gameday-roles-under-scrutiny-20180201-p4yz72.html

Get rid of them, the players go on and off the ground so often that coaches can communicate to players easily enough using the interchange.

After watching a player like Hodge directing and coaching last year from the backline tells me that the players know what and how to structure up without the need for fluoro 'ex-players' getting involved!

 

They deliberately block space that players could be leading into.They cheat.Get 'em orf!!

I think a runner is important for a young team in particular.

...clubs like ours in previous years without a Hodge on our list would have been even more disadvantaged.

The nature of our game and not having time outs like other sports means the runner plays an important role.

The AFL could fix the problem by cracking down on how they are used. It was obvious Maxwell was cheating last year and a free kick would fix that up. If a runner is blocking space then it's an automatic free kick up the ground...should fix things up.

No runners in the half of the ground when there is a kick out, that's a classic Maxwell tactic.

....and get rid of umpires while your at it.

18 minutes ago, rjay said:

I think a runner is important for a young team in particular.

...clubs like ours in previous years without a Hodge on our list would have been even more disadvantaged.

The nature of our game and not having time outs like other sports means the runner plays an important role.

The AFL could fix the problem by cracking down on how they are used. It was obvious Maxwell was cheating last year and a free kick would fix that up. If a runner is blocking space then it's an automatic free kick up the ground...should fix things up.

No runners in the half of the ground when there is a kick out, that's a classic Maxwell tactic.

http://www.news.com.au/sport/breaking-news/afl-to-investigate-gws-runner-nick-maxwell-over-time-spent-on-the-field/news-story/eb028ceeb4c62840f4fdc95ca21528df

Run on and deliver a quick message then get off. Employ the same or similar tactics as Maxwell and others have and the team should be penalised. 

Edited February 2, 20187 yr by Ethan Tremblay

12 minutes ago, rjay said:

I think a runner is important for a young team in particular.

...clubs like ours in previous years without a Hodge on our list would have been even more disadvantaged.

The nature of our game and not having time outs like other sports means the runner plays an important role.

The AFL could fix the problem by cracking down on how they are used. It was obvious Maxwell was cheating last year and a free kick would fix that up. If a runner is blocking space then it's an automatic free kick up the ground...should fix things up.

No runners in the half of the ground when there is a kick out, that's a classic Maxwell tactic.

the runner was originally for delivering messages.

Your post rjay seems to suggest you are ok with a degree of onfield coaching.

Cannot think of another mainstream sport that allows such a thing.

with the umpires and boundary umpires we now have 7 extra people on the field excluding goal umpires.

The art of filling is a space is just that and I think it would be hard to police other than on kick outs when the runner should simply be off the field !

Yep, I'd be happy to see runners disappear at the top level.

Would place a small extra premium on players with real leadership and game awareness, which I think would add to the game.

Would also make it that tiny bit harder for coaches to micromanage play, which in turn makes for a less predictable game and would actually see players mature more and have to show more initiative as they wont be able to just wait for a message to come out.

 

Restrict their ground time to between the 5 minute mark and the 20 minute of each quarter.

46 minutes ago, Diamond_Jim said:

the runner was originally for delivering messages.

Your post rjay seems to suggest you are ok with a degree of onfield coaching.

Cannot think of another mainstream sport that allows such a thing.

with the umpires and boundary umpires we now have 7 extra people on the field excluding goal umpires.

The art of filling is a space is just that and I think it would be hard to police other than on kick outs when the runner should simply be off the field !

No, not at all.

There is no reason for the runner to be wandering around on the ground.

Like other things in our game this has been allowed to happen over time.

On, deliver the message and get off.

...but, some other mainstream sports have time outs, I doubt you would prefer that.

I do laugh though how coaches will say their job is done on game day, all the work is done in preparation during the week. Try and take the runner away and see how much they really believe that to be the case...

1 hour ago, rjay said:

I think a runner is important for a young team in particular.

...clubs like ours in previous years without a Hodge on our list would have been even more disadvantaged.

Solution: get a Hodge on your team. (We did. Ours is called "Lewis".)

The disadvantage we suffered was self inflicted by killing off guys like Jr MacDonald. It's bad list management.

 

1 hour ago, rjay said:

The AFL could fix the problem by cracking down on how they are used.

It looks like this IS the crackdown.

1 hour ago, Wadda We Sing said:

....and get rid of umpires while your at it.

They're doing it! Patience. Step 1. make the game un-umpireable. Step 2. Wait. Soon no-one will want to be an umpire.

 

 

 

(On the basis of no evidence whatsoever, I have the funny feeling that Hocking will address this too.)

2 hours ago, rjay said:

I think a runner is important for a young team in particular.

...clubs like ours in previous years without a Hodge on our list would have been even more disadvantaged.

The nature of our game and not having time outs like other sports means the runner plays an important role.

The AFL could fix the problem by cracking down on how they are used. It was obvious Maxwell was cheating last year and a free kick would fix that up. If a runner is blocking space then it's an automatic free kick up the ground...should fix things up.

No runners in the half of the ground when there is a kick out, that's a classic Maxwell tactic.

In practice though, if you want a free kick, just kick it to their runner. Probably wouldn’t work. Maybe restrict it to goal stoppages?

if you want to send a message out to the players, use one of the players coming off the bench, or drag that player to the bench... a runner does not need to be used to go out there.

Thing is,... they get rid of a runner, and the trainer with the water bottles will just relay the same message anyway maybe

I reckon the Runners and the Umpires should be replaced by real Robots, who can bounce the ball properly, umpire without bias and be much more up with the Game. How could anyone disagree with that..........

Fine the runner part of their wage if they stay on the ground. 

RUN ON Give the Message RUN OFF

That is your job

If runners are about communications why can’t we deploy modern technology, wire up comms between the coaches and their leaders in the middle, forward and back? 

My preference is no communication on the ground and only at each break

Runners no longer required at AFL level.  The interchange with 90 rotations is sufficient to get the messages out there i.e about 1 rotation occurs each minute....more than sufficient. Mike up the water boys to shout at the players from behind the boundary if needed.

If you have ever had to be a runner, it is a frightening job trying to get to a player during play, especially as they get beyond the junior ranks.  The ball moves so quickly and you cannot get "in the way".  You can't enter the 50 while either side is kicking for goal.  Chasing fit young players to get a message to them is bad enough. 

We already see them scrambling to "get out of the way" at the AFL level. And the Maxwell situation shows how they can exploit the placements on the field. 

Get rid of them for the big boys.

3 hours ago, Dingo said:

Restrict their ground time to between the 5 minute mark and the 20 minute of each quarter.

Would prefer it if you restricted the time they are allowed on the ground, for example for 5 minutes per quarter

On 02/02/2018 at 7:00 PM, Ouch! said:

if you want to send a message out to the players, use one of the players coming off the bench, or drag that player to the bench... a runner does not need to be used to go out there.

Thing is,... they get rid of a runner, and the trainer with the water bottles will just relay the same message anyway maybe

I don't think runners are necessary but if the role is abolished, I have no doubt this is what would happen.

On 02/02/2018 at 9:10 PM, Rod Grinter Riot Squad said:

Would prefer it if you restricted the time they are allowed on the ground, for example for 5 minutes per quarter

Or perhaps restrict the number of times per match or per quarter (or both) they are allowed onto the ground and the amount of time they are allowed per on-field foray.

 

 

Na get rid of everyone on the ground bar players and umpires.

Trainers as needed for injuires only. 

 

If it is to deliver one message, the minute after a goal and on way back before a bounce should suffice.

As an aside to this topic.... I took a South African visitor to a game. He had never seen a game before. He asked who "that guy was" - i said a runner. Then he asked who "that girl was" - i said a watergirl. I then noticed how many periphery, non combatants were on the field. 

Is it just me or does anyone else's mind just block them out - I cant say that I have ever noticed the extraordinary number of non players on the field until it was pointed out to me.

 

On 2/2/2018 at 7:40 PM, Sir Why You Little said:

Fine the runner part of their wage if they stay on the ground. 

RUN ON Give the Message RUN OFF

That is your job

I would prefer to see some sort of a sin bin option... if the runner stays on too long at any point in the game, then the team is no longer allowed a runner for the next 15 minutes of the game (excluding breaks between quarters).  If it happens a second time in the same game, then no runner for the remainder of the game and fined.

37 minutes ago, nutbean said:

As an aside to this topic.... I took a South African visitor to a game. He had never seen a game before. He asked who "that guy was" - i said a runner. Then he asked who "that girl was" - i said a watergirl. I then noticed how many periphery, non combatants were on the field. 

Is it just me or does anyone else's mind just block them out - I cant say that I have ever noticed the extraordinary number of non players on the field until it was pointed out to me.

 

Compare afl to say rugby or soccer.

There is literally no one else allowed on unless theres an injury. If they want a drink they have to wait. 

Hell they go 40/45 mins before a talk/drink