Game-changing football technology is to be put to the test this weekend.
The AFL will take a significant step into the future on Friday with the introduction of ball-chip or ‘smart-ball technology’.
7NEWS chief AFL reporter Mitch Cleary says the first trial will be on Friday night.
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“The AFL is hoping this unlocks the future of the much-discussed score review,” Cleary said.
The high-tech football will be used for the first time in a competitive game in the VFL when Sandringham takes on Collingwood at RSEA Park.
Cleary said the decision had been made to use the ball after “blind testing” with more than 125 AFL players over the pre-season.
“(Those players) noticed no difference with the electronic sensor in the Sherrin,” Cleary said.
The ball-chip technology will provide data on how far the football has travelled and at what speed.
It won’t be used to determine score reviews this week but the aim is for it to eventually conclude if the ball has crossed the line, hit the post, or been touched.
“There’s so much upside to this technology, but we’ve just gotta make sure it does the job,” AFL chief Andrew Dillon said.
“We’ll trial it and make sure were get it as close to 100 per cent as we can get.”
