How the use of signs has changed communication in AFL matches

Australia Broadcast Center

15-05-2025

For the past six years, football clubs have struggled with the same problem humankind has struggled with for millennia — how to communicate effectively over distance.
What was once easy through the use of runners suddenly became hard with their restriction in 2019.
The AFL desired to open up the game and encourage players to think strategically. This desire forced clubs into an old-school solution — semaphore style.
During much of an AFL game, there will be a club official on the sideline, communicating messages through the use of large signs.
Much of the time, what is being communicated is to ensure the team on the field knows the current situation in the game, and making sure nothing is missed by those on the field.
Making sure the little things go right is important to any modern footy team. Problems can multiply quickly if care is not taken.
Having a capable football operations manager, like GWS's Alison Zell, can help to eradicate these errors.
"The job in footy ops is just to make sure that (coach) Adam (Kingsley) is supported whenever he needs something. You're there to help."
People like Zell often float under the radar unless you are looking for them.
Occasionally, you'll see the same figures floating next to the coaches of behind-the-scenes club videos, or near the sidelines.
"I'm sort of hands-on on a game day rather than just sitting back and observing," she said
"It just gives me an opportunity to contribute, as the team manager and the point of contact for integrity, security, [and] any operations on game day."
Part of those responsibilities for Zell is being the interchange steward for the Giants. It's in this role that she has become most visible.
Like all things in football, the use of signs is governed relatively tightly. The AFL Regulations set out the specifics around this modern incursion into the game.
Signs are mandated by the AFL to be no bigger than 80cm by 60cm. That space is used to communicate a wide variety of messages.
They remind players to come off the ground, inform players of how much time is left in a quarter, and occasionally, a shift in a side's tactical outlook.
The most common sign displayed on the sideline is that of a player's number, signalling that it's their time to come off the ground. Most observers are interested in the signs not displaying a number on the back of a guernsey.
The meaning of some of these signs is obvious, such as time warnings. Others are seemingly straightforward, such as the Giants' "Win" sign.
Some are just confusing at surface level. In 2023, Hawthorn interchange steward Johnny Cavarra displayed what looked like a bowl of ramen on the sidelines, leaving many onlookers confused.
Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell told Fox Sports that "noodles" was their sign to make a strategic shift to playing a wet weather style of game.
The Giants use two types of signs — an LED board to signal player interchanges and six double sided static signs to signal time and strategic changes.
Many games pass without the use of strategic signs being used. In blowouts, most of these strategic signs stay at the back of the bench.
Often, there are other ways to communicate messages to players.
"It's usually in conjunction with the runners' message or usually in conjunction with a message that the players will take out as well (that we use signs)," Zell says.
The lifting of restrictions on the use of runners — now allowed four visits a quarter outside of goal breaks — has shifted the need to rely on signs. Players are also used to signal — or reinforce — tactical positioning.
Having a coach or assistant coach on the sideline often makes the communication of these messages easier.
"He (Kingsley) has a feel for what the players are thinking, what the players are feeling. He can speak to them as soon as they're coming off the ground. (Kingsley knows) where things are up to and what he might need to queue the players to do next."
Coaches — such as Kingsley — have the ultimate responsibility in displaying strategic signs and communicating messages to players. Line coaches will also communicate area specific messages to players.
Things also get dicier near the end of quarters and games.
"You can't send a runner out in the last two minutes outside of goals," Zell says.
"So you want to be really strategic (and make sure) that you're really comfortable that you've communicated as much as you can before you reach that two minute limit."
Despite the obsession with weird signs and symbols, it's the use of signs to trigger rotations that is their most important use in the modern game.
In the beginning, football didn't have a bench. The players on the field at the start of the game tended to finish the game, barring serious injury.
All that changed in 1930 when the Australian National Football Council introduced the substitute (or 19th) player. The first ever VFL player subbed off was a schoolteacher from country Victoria named Hope "Hop" Collins.
It was Collins' first — and last — game in the league. Collins injured his ankle in the Richmond loss and he was involved in a newsworthy car crash later that night while riding with his two housemates — who just happened to play for the Collingwood team who beat him. His housemates — the Murphy brothers — played again next week, but Collins didn't manage another game for Richmond.
The number of subs was increased to two in 1946, and eventually turned into an interchange bench in 1978.
In the first week of interchange footy, Ron Barassi's North Melbourne made a record-setting 11 changes, with eight of those used on rucks to successfully nullify the influence of Footscray star Gary Dempsey. Other sides, such as Hawthorn (one interchange) and Melbourne (two), were more hesitant.
Over time, interchanges became an integral part of the game. With their numbers now capped at 75, each change is often thought about in advance.
"I'll expect to see Aaron (Cadman) stand next to me after like (so many) minutes or so and then, you know, Jacob (Wehr) will be coming up to me. So we have a rotation plan going in and then we sort of know that it can change," Zell says.
Teams tend to plan out the ideal rotation plan for games in advance, looking to balance the team on the field with fitness requirements and each player's abilities to influence the game. The composition of the bench tends to cover the different groups on the field. The idea is to give sides coverage across the different roles.
"It's pretty formulaic. You're always gonna have one back, one mid, one forward and then one probably key (position player) on the bench at any given time," Zell says.
That can mean that players have to slide into slightly different roles across the course of a game.
But best-laid plans often come unstuck.
"A player sometimes ends up on the bench for a longer period of time — whether that's an injury or, you know, the game gets stuck on the other side of the field. So sometimes you can't rotate someone until late so you'll just adjust from there."
Zell signals the changes from the sidelines, but the players usually know the rotations in advance of them occurring.
"You're a little bit more cautious with players and your rotations do change quarter on quarter.
"So, someone might get a rotation in the second quarter but not in the third. They're planned out for sort of the whole game holistically."
One thing that definitely doesn't affect it is kicking goals.
"Before I was in this role, I've seen that commentary where it's like, 'oh, you rotate someone off every time that they happen to score a goal,'" Zell says.
"I've seen that before and it's genuinely just a coincidence. It just means that he's within that time frame that he and he probably already knows that he's due to come off.
"So I've never seen a player dragged off after kicking a goal."
Instead, the opposite might be true — a player might give a bit of extra effort knowing that he is due for a break if he empties the tank.
GWS try to hit about 72 interchanges across the course of a game, split into roughly 18 per quarter. That's the norm across the league.
Some sides, such as Essendon in recent years, use slightly fewer than average. External factors such as blowouts and injuries can impact the number of changes teams make.
The timing of the sub can also have an impact on how many changes can be made. Zell says the Giants pick their subs on their ability to impact the game, more than the sheer coverage that they can provide.
"You want to know that no matter where an injury might occur in the first place you can utilise your sub and you believe they can impact the game. So, say an injury doesn't occur that they can impact the game (anyway)," Zell said.
Different teams tend to pull the trigger for subs at different times as well, both from a strategic or injury point of view.
It's the big signs and little things like this that can really make the difference for a club, even if it can result in some surprising photos and gentle ribbing from friends and family.