2 weeks Ago
Wet weather has sparked chaos on the MCG interchange bench and AFL “uncharted territory”, with Essendon left without crucial information during the third quarter of its Anzac Day blockbuster against Collingwood. After a gritty second-quarter comeback, the Bombers pinched the lead from Collingwood by kicking the first two goals of the third term – only for the Magpies to hit back with five of the next six goals. But as Herald Sun reporter Jon Ralph detailed, there was “chaos down here for most of the third quarter” off the field.
FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every match of every round in the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE in 4K, with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer .
“The rain has sparked out the communications,” Ralph said on Fox Footy during the early stages of the fourth term. “Essendon have had very little (communications), so weren’t able to access their stats or vision boards. They were able to communicate with their box, but there’s been chaos.
” He later reported Collingwood had a brief blackout as well, but was not impacted as much as Essendon was. Melbourne champion Garry Lyon was left stunned by Ralph’s report. “Wow .
.. That’s a really interesting development there, considering they kicked the first two goals of the (quarter), got themselves out to lead and if that’s when communication has gone .
.. I’m not sure how much of a bearing it has, but it certainly doesn’t help,” Lyon said.
Ralph said the temporary communications blackout led to AFL football operations manager Laura Kane granting some bench officials special access to use their mobile phones to communicate. “I’ve spoken to the AFL bench official here and they’re in uncharted territory,” Ralph said. “Normally, of course, given the integrity concerns they’re not allowed to do that (use mobile phones).
But that was granted to them. “It’s a significant story here. Thankfully they’ve had that communication restored, but even looking at some of the injuries – like we saw with Harry Jones, they wanted to see the mechanism of that – it’s been a significant disadvantage for the Essendon Football Club.
” Lyon added: “That is another really good point, because they want to see head knocks and concussion and also for other injuries. It’s a massive inconvenience.”.
