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Full Noise by SN
The Live Sport Bible is here!Again? Another AFL clock malfunction in question
Sam Edmund • May 11th, 2026 1:33 pm
The AFL has appeared to suffer another timekeeping malfunction, with multiple minutes seemingly added to Saturday night’s Geelong-Collingwood game.
The Cats had surged to a 34-point lead with 3min36sec remaining in the third quarter at the MCG when the clock froze.
It was stuck for about a minute of playing time before more confusion ensued.
After the clock resumed its countdown and had got to 2min56sec remaining, it suddenly added another minute and showed 3min56sec to go in the third quarter.
So, with the 60 seconds lost and another 60 seconds added, it appeared as though an extra two minutes were played in the third quarter.
While the only scores in that time were two behinds from Jack Crisp and Ned Long – and the final score showed a comfortable 54-point win to Geelong – it is the latest concerning timekeeper system error for the league only nine rounds in.
The AFL admitted to a blunder in St Kilda’s nailbiting four-point win over GWS in Round 2, conceding 29 seconds should have been re-added to the clock.
In that game, half a minute vanished after Saint Max Hall kicked a goal in the second quarter at Engie Stadium.
As reported by SEN in the wake of that mistake, a league memo pointed to a software update, with timekeepers needing to manually run the clock in the event of a malfunction.
The bizarre memo read, in-part: “We're in the process of investigating a few clock related issues that we have encountered over the weekend.
“We're not expecting these issues to be ongoing and believe these incidents are isolated errors that were unforeseen and half expected as the new system is integrated into existing stadium infrastructure and broadcasting equipment.”
The AFL has been contacted for comment.
