Collingwood have baffled commentators and fans alike with a unique sign in the third quarter of Friday night’s AFL blockbuster against Essendon.
Having lost the lead under a flurry of turnovers, the Pies’ bench held a prepared board featuring a video game controller, an emoji with a blank stare, and a football.
Channel 7 boundary rider Erin Phillips was the first to raise the question.
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“Not quite sure what it means, trying to throw it to you guys to have a guess,” she told her fellow commentators.
Alister Nicholson said: “I reckon ring your kids up, Erin, and you’ll get a better indication than you might from up here!”
Brian Taylor added: “That is a weird sign, there’s no doubt about it.”
Fans on social media struggled to decipher the code, with Collingwood’s form afterwards — Essendon kicked four goals to zero in the third term — not helping the situation.
“Start playing Call of Duty, I don’t know,” one wrote.
Another said: “Stop playing football it makes us sad.”
Eventually the answer made its way up to the commentary box.
“I’m told that sign means control the footy,” Taylor said.
Matthew Richardson joked: “Oh, I get it! Controller! You’re a genius, Brian.”
Making matters worse, seconds after the explanation a Darcy Moore kick-in was intercepted by Essendon youngster Nate Caddy.
Caddy let off the Pies with a behind while Steele Sidebottom took the resulting kick-in, securing a boundary throw-in on the wing.
Collingwood’s sign is the latest entry in a growing line of bizarre attempts to send a message to players.
Hawthorn officials held up a noodle and chopstick board on a wet Easter Monday and nobody seemed to guess correctly before senior coach Sam Mitchell revealed all.
“Every club has got these signs that we use, and we’ve got a style of play that we go to,” he said on Fox Footy after the game.
As it turns out, the style the sign was referencing was wet and slippery — like a bowl of noodles.
“We talked to the players and they gave that style of play a name, and they called it noodles, so we asked someone to put the noodles sign up,” Mitchell said.
“Johnny Cavarra, who puts that sign up, he’s always disappointed because he gets a bit of a ribbing from all his mates when they put it up. We might have to give it a change if you guys keep running it.
“We’ve got a radio sign and a noodles sign and they’re just different modes of play. It started raining around that time so it was just a wet-weather style of footy sign.
“We could put up ‘wet weather’ but then everyone obviously knows what it is – though they’re gonna know it now I’ve just said it, so we’re gonna have to change it.”