How long does an AFL game last?

How much support does a senior coach have while a AFL game is being played?

• It just seems that there is a never ending amount of people supporting senior coaches these days. from the people sitting beside them in the box. to the staff keeping tabs on player movements. to the ones keeping stats. to the specialist coaches. & so on. Does anyone really know how many staff a senior coach has at his disposal. accumulating all of the up to date data he requires. while the game is in play?

• Answer:

  I'm thinking too much. Pre 80's & man on man, the coach made match-up decisions continuously during a game, ran the runners off their feet conveying messages to players and was totally responsible for the results. Now-a-days the game strategy is preplanned so that is a lock-in, requiring minimal tweaking during a game. Backs, mids, forwards and ruck all have their own coaches who "control" them during a game. The interchange is worked out pregame and runs 95% of the time on autopilot. Senseless making positional changes because the next rotation will probably nullify the change. Seems that there is less now that the senior coach can do to alter the course of a game, during the game, so the role seems more to observe, make notes, apply his observations at the end of each quarter in the huddle, and activate the subs. Everything else is either cemented in pregame or handled automatically by an assistant eg strategy, structure, injury contingency plans, rotations. I know this is an over-simplification but in so many areas & with so many staff, his role has been greatly diminished in many key areas. For this reason I go back to my opening gambit...too much support !