The countdown shot clock has been a topic of hot debate this week, but Brent Harvey says it had no impact on the result of Sunday’s game.
Forward Mason Wood made the most of his full 30-second allotment after receiving a free kick, with the siren ultimately blowing to end the game as he ran in.
“If you go back and the shot clock wasn’t there, you probably take 20-25 seconds (anyway),” Harvey told SEN on Tuesday.
“You go back and look at all the good forwards who had those long kicking routines … the one that springs to mind is Matty Lloyd; that probably took 35 or 40 seconds anyway.
“The thing with Mason … he probably didn’t disguise it very well.
“He stood there and looked at the clock for 25 seconds. If he had bent over and picked up some grass or did up his shoe lace, it might have looked a little bit different.”
Harvey said the shot clock made the job easier for umpires, particularly late in the games.
“I guess the umpires might get a little bit agitated and a little bit nervous and call you to play on at about the 20-second mark,” he said.
“It probably takes a little bit of the error out of it.”
Harvey said he wouldn’t hesitate in encouraging teammates to utilise the full time allotment, as he did in round one with Ben Brown.
“I don’t mind it. The rules say Mason should have done that and he did, which I’m very, very thankful for.”