Sheedy spruiks 'AFL 11s' - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Sheedy spruiks 'AFL 11s'

By Roger Vaughan 23/01/2011 08:55:58 PM Comments (0)

Kevin Sheedy is determined to bring a "Twenty20" style of game to the AFL as he leads the game's expansion into western Sydney.

The first coach of the Greater Western Sydney expansion team says an "AFL 11s" concept would give the game more flexibility as it tries to gain a foothold in the area.

Sheedy has touted the idea before, but said he had trialled the abbreviated form at his club this month and felt the idea had promise.

"I'm not going to let AFL 11s go - I wouldn't let Anzac Day go, I wouldn't let Dreamtime at the 'G go," he said.

"It would be the shorter version of a game to make sure we make an impact.

"If you had 11 top-class players zinging the ball around with 11 opposition top-class players, you've got something exciting." Sheedy said an abbreviated form of the game could be played on smaller grounds such as rugby and soccer fields.

He said for the AFL to succeed in western Sydney, it needed much more than a GWS home game every fortnight.

"How can we make an impact at Homebush? - not just a game every now and then," he said.

"The west of Sydney needs an impact of AFL, they don't just need five minutes.

"If you want to put flooding in football, then put it into Homebush ... let the people actually know what the rules are." Sheedy was in Adelaide with club sponsor Skoda, which is also involved heavily in the Tour Down Under.

As usual, Sheedy was looking at cycling for ideas he could transfer to his game.

"You come here, we were in the bush yesterday and I'm on the Torrens River (in Adelaide) today, they have the flexibility to move it around - I like that flexibility, smart thinking by Adelaide.

"What's next in football? What can we do at Homebush, in the west of Sydney, that the AFL has never thought of? "This (Tour) was not here 15 years ago ... 15 years ago, it goes like 'that'." Sheedy rode bikes as a teenager, saying his paper round helped develop fitness for football.

"I got power in my legs when a German Shepherd came out at 6am - I couldn't believe how fast I could ride," he joked.

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