THE AFL will keep the controversial set shot countdown clock for the rest of the season but with two major changes designed to reduce deliberate time-wasting by players.
AFL football operations manager Mark Evans confirmed to SEN radio on Thursday morning that the shot clock would not be displayed in the final two minutes of each quarter, and revealed umpires would also be instructed to stop players from deliberately running down the clock.
"If the umpire thinks the player is just deliberately delaying starting a proper goal-kicking routine, then the player can be moved on and hopefully that cleans up most things," Evans said.
"But we've put in a double-layer of protection. We'll take it off the screen in the last two minutes of each quarter for now, so we don't get a repeat of [Mason Wood's tactics at the end North Melbourne's round seven win over St Kilda]."
Kangaroos forward Wood iced the clock in the final seconds of his team's seventh-straight win more than a week ago, watching the seconds count down on the scoreboard with his team holding a one-point lead.
Wood, who waited for the siren to sound before taking his set shot to the frustration of Saints supporters, later said players would keep using their 30 seconds to close out games if in similar situations.
"We didn't like the look at the end of the North Melbourne game and have tried to mitigate it," Evans said.
"It's worthwhile persisting with. We'll make a proper assessment at the end of the year as to what it might have done to improve consistency in that goalkicking routine.
"From day one [after the Wood incident] I thought it was over, but it looks like there's enough support to give it a go."
Clubs, fans and umpires were consulted about the clock in the fallout from North Melbourne's round seven win over St Kilda.
It is understood the AFL sent a memo to all clubs on Wednesday confirming that the countdown clock would stay, but it would be removed from replay screens for the last two minutes of each quarter.
"We spoke to the clubs, fans and umps about it and there's a range of opinions on this one as you'd expect. Most of the people at the ground, the clubs and certainly the umps don't mind it," Evans said.
Evans said there were instances where 30 seconds was too long to allocate for a set shot, but a player like St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt often deserved that time after repeatedly running up and down the ground to win the ball.
"I think you're entitled to prepare yourself for the shot at goal the best way you can, but that wouldn't include standing with your hands on your hips staring at the scoreboard," he said.
