An AFL football. Photo: Getty
The AFL is rolling out smart ball technology across its AFLW games programme over the next few months to provide score assistance to umpires and could prompt interest in the future from the GAA, among other sports.
The Sherrin ‘footy’ as it is known, will have a microchip inserted in it weighing no more than a teaspoon of sugar and will provide score detection values determining if the ball has been touched or has gone through the posts, similar to what Hawk-eye does at Croke Park and Thurles.
Sensors planted around the ground will track the ball’s movement and be relayed to a score assist system operator.
The smart ball technology has been extensively tested over the last 18 months, with Victorian Football League and VFLW games earlier this year trialling it successfully as an aid to umpires.
The final call on a score will still rest with umpires, but like Gaelic games, the technology is unlikely to be overridden.
If the AFLW rollout is successful, the smart ball will be extended to the AFL season next year.
The design has been modified so that the ‘smart’ Sherrins match the weight, shape and balance of the original Sherrins.
The GAA has had Hawk-eye in use at Croke Park since 2013 and at Thurles since 2016, but cost has prohibited it from being rolled out at other GAA stadia.
If the AFL smart ball is deemed a success, it could provide a more cost-friendly solution to score detection in other sports, including Gaelic games and leave open the possibility that more inter-county venues could have access to score detection technology.
A smart sliotar for standardisation has been in use at inter-county level since 2023. It allows detection for approved balls on a mobile phone app.
There is scope with the smart sliotar for the harvesting of further information about a ball’s flight path, but this branch of the technology has yet to manifest.
