Fixture 2026 Fixture

[Mat Mann]

Overall thoughts

I am one of the few people that seem to have this belief that opening rd could be good..............IF DONE RIGHT

And this is an unmitigated disaster, probably the worst I've seen yet
Teams that have runs on the board with their tune up game vs fresh pigs for the slaughter:
Carlton get the advantage over Richmond in Rd 1
Gold Coast get the advantage over West Coast in Rd 1
Geelong get the advantage over Fremantle in Rd 1
Hawthorn get the advantage over Essendon in Rd 1
St Kilda get the advantage over Melbourne in Rd 1
Collingwood get the advantage over Adelaide in Rd 1

Teams that get an advantage of the extra bye:
Geelong get the advantage over Adelaide in Rd 3
Collingwood get the advantage over Greater Western Sydney in Rd 3
Brisbane get the advantage over St Kilda in Rd 3
Carlton get the advantage over Melbourne in Rd 3
Sydney get the advantage over West Coast in Rd 4
Gold Coast get the advantage over Melbourne in Rd 4
Western Bulldogs get the advantage over Essendon in Rd 4
Hawthorn get the advantage over Geelong in Rd 4
Greater Western Sydney get the advantage over Richmond in Rd 5
St Kilda get the advantage over Port Adelaide in Rd 5

That is an unmitigated disaster. No coverage to cover freak disasters like last year. Not using it to fix fixturing issues (Why not give Bris/Coll the bye together before playing each other Easter Thursday?

You can make a fixture where it doesnt give legs up everywhere. But no, you have to **** it up.

Other than Bulldogs vs GWS and Sydney vs Brisbane - Everything has been ballsed up

Also on another note with what the AFL ballsed up, that's 2 years in a row the same team has gotten a ride with true away games. Once you take out games sold and look at it as a pure home/away side of things across the vic teams. The same team has had a huge ride 2 years in a row.
6: Geelong, Western Bulldogs
5: Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Hawthorn, Melbourne
4: Richmond, St Kilda, North Melbourne

idc about neutral games where there's part time members so the crowd isn't hostile. Or games you sold. I care about pure home/away, and that's 2 years in a row North have had the best away fixture in the league........By far. Why should they get a leg up simply because they sold 2 games to Perth? BS.

Honestly - This is perhaps the worst fixture I've ever seen. And it's really making me want to see if there's any chance as a fan we can oust Dillon. This league (Both mens and womens) have taken many steps back under him. It had flaws before hand, but it feels that everything Dillon touches goes to shit.

rnd 12 2012
rnd 8 2013
rnd 23 2014
rnd 7 2015
rnd 11 2016
rnd 12 2017
rnd 20 2019
rnd 7 2020
rnd 10 2022
rnd 9 2023
rnd 18 2024
rnd 1 2025
rnd 6 2026 Saints playing consecutive games in Adelaide

vs

rnd 4 2014
rnd 3 2018
rnd 6 2019
rnd 13 2021

 

[royboy2]

AFL 2026 FIXTURE DIFFICULTY

Based on the 2025 percentage of the teams they play twice in 2026

(Hardest) 1. Geelong

2. Gold Coast Suns

3. Collingwood

4. Fremantle

5. Hawthorn

6. Western Bulldogs

7. Adelaide Crows

8. Brisbane Lions

9. Carlton

10. Melbourne

11. Sydney Swans

12. Essendon

13. St Kilda

14. West Coast Eagles

15. GWS Giants

16. Richmond

17. Port Adelaide

(Easiest) 18. North Melbourne



Just leaving this here so when a couple sides fall unexpectedly no one claims we got an easy draw.

I had a bit of a Crack as well, ranked every side according to ladder after finals position. Brisbane 18, Geelong 17 etc. I then placed them in a spreadsheet, eg: Dogs: 1st game ranking is 18, 2nd game GWS 12 etc. totaled them and it came out pretty similar to this and which is pretty much how the "Easiest & Hardest draw" posts on fox footy etc. look also.

Next I added a loading for travel,
Any Home game (inc. Those sold interstate) or home state away game have no loading thus x 1,
slight loading for vic teams vs Geelong x 1.25,
interstate game x 1.5 ( no loading for Gather rd except Car & Stk),
interstate game in Geelong x 1.75.
Eg Dogs: rd1 BL - A (18 x 1.5 = 27), rd2 GWS - H (12 x 1 = 12) etc. & totalled them.
IMO I think this gave a more true reflection of the teams draw difficulty.

1. Gold Coast - Hardest
2. Adelaide
3. Sydney
4. Fremantle
5. Geelong
6. Brisbane Lions
7. West Coast
8.Western Bulldogs
9. Carlton
10. Essendon
11. Collingwood
12. Port Adelaide
13. Greater Western Sydney
14. Melbourne
15. Hawthorn
16. North Melbourne
17. Richmond
18. St. Kilda - Easiest

 

[Outtatym]

Carlton with 7 prime time games is bat shit crazy

 

[blueiris]

Yeah coz that clearly works.
AFL sticking to their method, a soft lead in to finals = less match hardened. Can’t have cats winning can we?
Chris Fagan acknowledged this advantage for the lions in 2024.

Maybe we should sook as hard as Brisbane did so we get a better fixture.

All we’ve heard from Brisbane is Wah Wah Wah we got the hardest draw ever, meanwhile you can’t beat North.
Why would the lions want easy teams?

Yet we smashed you funny that

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Change???

You can't change 10 Vic teams being entitled to their 50% share of matches at home and as such being in Victoria.

 

[TimothyJ23]

https://resources.afl.com.au/afl/document/2025/11/12/4e6d5234-cd49-4e3f-89e2-0449aa7c356e/2026-AFL-Fixture-VF.pdf

Appreciate that one. I was hoping for the programme-esque 7-8 page document that breaks down the draw etc.

This is last years: https://resources.afl.com.au/afl/do...40694_Fixture-Release_Booklet_FA_R_LowRes.pdf

 

[WalshistheGOAT]

Carlton with 7 prime time games is bat shit crazy

Whether we win, lose or draw people watch. Just the reality of the situation

Only giving Brisbane 3 matches is absolutely bizarre though.

 

[VicBased]

You can't change 10 Vic teams being entitled to their 50% share of matches at home and as such being in Victoria.

Everything is possible, just have to find solutions and in 20 years we won't even remember how it was.

 

[Romano]

So after all the Lions supporters whinging about the change to the weighting it's actually Collingwood (predictably) and Geelong (less so) that are the ones who cop 4 top 6 teams twice.

Also, for those who love to say Collingwood get a great financial draw - here's our full list of home games for the entire first half of the season when crowds and interest are at their peak:

Adelaide
GWS (Docklands)
Hawthorn
West Coast

Hands up if your team wants that draw.

Crows will get ~75k if it’s a nice night

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Everything is possible, just have to find solutions and in 20 years we won't even remember how it was.

10 teams from Victoria. Each with 11 home fixtures.
That's 110 matches. Hawthorn sell 4 to Tasmania. Melbourne 1 to Alice Springs and NM 2 to WA venues.

That leaves 103 fixtures in Victoria.

If we conservatively assume no non-vic teams double up against each other. I.e. All double up games are vs Vic teams there is 88 fixtures outside Victoria, not realistic but we are illustrating best case scenario here.

Once you eliminate those 8 clubs all playing each other once each that leaves 60 fixtures (88-28). So at most you could make 10 vic sides average 6 away trips interstate (60/10).

2026 (not including sold games and gather round) there are 51 away fixtures for Vic teams interstate so you're arguing over essentially 9 games through out a whole season, of which those 9 games would be lost to QLD, NSW, SA and WA city derby games and double ups from ladder position. I.e Adelaide v Freo, Lions v Swans.

So even in your not so feasible best case scenario there's little wiggle room to change the simple mathematics of how many games must be played in various venues.

 

[010203]

It's 3 years too late but Mummy's boy JHF will finally take on his old club at Marvel next season.

 

[fl4gd0n5]

There’s a few Marvel Stadium Saturday double headers in the schedule. I think it’s just a coincidence that three of the same teams are in both double headers.

Round 3
St Kilda v Brisbane - 12:35
Essendon v North Melbourne - 7:35

Round 8
Essendon v Brisbane - 12:35
Carlton v St Kilda - 7:35

Not really sure why they do this. Can’t imagine people go to both games on the same day, given how spread out they are. Not even sure if they sell some sort of double game ticket deal.

 

[FreddyTwoShoes]

How many weeks into the season will it be before nuffies start claiming the cats have an easy draw again? I reckon 4 or 5 weeks.

 

[makethat2]

Thankfully Geelong have there customary soft draw leading in to the finals. Essendon, Nth and Rich.

 

[mighty_lions]

Clubs join the rebranded VFL competition with Melbourne centred cluster of teams then whinge when that dictates fixtures are in Victoria. You joined our comp.. What do you expect.

embarassing

 

[hawkman]

Reckon the AFL and the broadcaster will regret pretty quickly Carltons regular prime time fixturing

Always good to have a good laugh at the end of a tough week

 

[Art Vandelay_]

embarassing

Factually correct and an inconvenient truth that cannot be avoided.

 

[cricketnut14]

10 teams from Victoria. Each with 11 home fixtures.
That's 110 matches. Hawthorn sell 4 to Tasmania. Melbourne 1 to Alice Springs and NM 2 to WA venues.

That leaves 103 fixtures in Victoria.

If we conservatively assume no non-vic teams double up against each other. I.e. All double up games are vs Vic teams there is 88 fixtures outside Victoria, not realistic but we are illustrating best case scenario here.

Once you eliminate those 8 clubs all playing each other once each that leaves 60 fixtures (88-28). So at most you could make 10 vic sides average 6 away trips interstate (60/10).

2026 (not including sold games and gather round) there are 51 away fixtures for Vic teams interstate so you're arguing over essentially 9 games through out a whole season, of which those 9 games would be lost to QLD, NSW, SA and WA city derby games and double ups from ladder position. I.e Adelaide v Freo, Lions v Swans.

So even in your not so feasible best case scenario there's little wiggle room to change the simple mathematics of how many games must be played in various venues.

well written.

richmond have also sold a game to hobart.

 

[mighty_lions]

Factually correct and an inconvenient truth that cannot be avoided.

Its a completely different competition, stay delusional

 

[threenewpadlocks]

So after all the Lions supporters whinging about the change to the weighting it's actually Collingwood (predictably) and Geelong (less so) that are the ones who cop 4 top 6 teams twice.

Also, for those who love to say Collingwood get a great financial draw - here's our full list of home games for the entire first half of the season when crowds and interest are at their peak:

Adelaide
GWS (Docklands)
Hawthorn
West Coast

Hands up if your team wants that draw.

Hands up for getting 6 of your 11 away games at the MCG

 

[Hawkk]

So after all the Lions supporters whinging about the change to the weighting it's actually Collingwood (predictably) and Geelong (less so) that are the ones who cop 4 top 6 teams twice.

Also, for those who love to say Collingwood get a great financial draw - here's our full list of home games for the entire first half of the season when crowds and interest are at their peak:

Adelaide
GWS (Docklands)
Hawthorn
West Coast

Hands up if your team wants that draw.

Last Collingwood home game against those teams…

Adelaide - 67,698
GWS - never played at Docklands
Hawthorn - 83,706
West Coast - 60,878

Collingwood dont get locked up with the fixture most years (they are used to prop up the other clubs) but it’s a bit irrelevant who they play — they’ll draw 60,000 if they are in contention and at the MCG.

 

[doppleganger]

10 teams from Victoria. Each with 11 home fixtures.
That's 110 matches. Hawthorn sell 4 to Tasmania. Melbourne 1 to Alice Springs and NM 2 to WA venues.

That leaves 103 fixtures in Victoria.

If we conservatively assume no non-vic teams double up against each other. I.e. All double up games are vs Vic teams there is 88 fixtures outside Victoria, not realistic but we are illustrating best case scenario here.

Once you eliminate those 8 clubs all playing each other once each that leaves 60 fixtures (88-28). So at most you could make 10 vic sides average 6 away trips interstate (60/10).

2026 (not including sold games and gather round) there are 51 away fixtures for Vic teams interstate so you're arguing over essentially 9 games through out a whole season, of which those 9 games would be lost to QLD, NSW, SA and WA city derby games and double ups from ladder position. I.e Adelaide v Freo, Lions v Swans.

So even in your not so feasible best case scenario there's little wiggle room to change the simple mathematics of how many games must be played in various venues.

The WA whingers don't think Melbourne teams or their fans are entitled to 11 home games.

They think they should have to play games away from home to make it fair.

Meanwhile, SA teams get 13 games at AO and WC get 13 games at Optus in 2026.

 

[Hawkk]

Hands up for getting 6 of your 11 away games at the MCG

MCG total games (split home and away)

Collingwood 14 (8/6)
Richmond 13 (10/3)
Melbourne 12 (9/3)
Hawthorn 11 (6/5)

Carlton 8 (5/3)
Essendon 7 (5/2)

Geelong 3 (1/2)
St Kilda 3 (1/2)
Adelaide 2 (0/2)
Brisbane 2 (0/2)
Fremantle 2 (0/2)
Gold Coast 2 (0/2)
Port Adelaide 2 (0/2)
Sydney 2 (0/2)
West Coast 2 (0/2)
W Bulldogs 2 (0/2)
GWS Giants 1 (0/1)
North Melbourne (0/1)

No doubt there has been a huge push to equalise the exposure to the MCG. But from an home ground advantage, Collingwood (6 away games) and Hawthorn (5 away games) benefit far more than any other club.

There is also a massive difference in MCG exposure between the four full time MCG tenants, Essendon / Carlton and the rest. Given this, I don’t think MCG co-tenants should be able to host other clubs at the MCG unless they earn the right. The advantage is enormous.

Collingwood (14) and Hawthorn (15 if you include Tasmania) are the only clubs that play more home games at their home ground than Adelaide and Port (13 each). I would argue that both SA clubs now have a far bigger home ground advantage than the Pies and Hawks.

 

[manicmagpie]

Hands up for getting 6 of your 11 away games at the MCG

MCG total games (split home and away)

Collingwood 14 (8/6)

You’re both wrong.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Its a completely different competition, stay delusional

It actually isn't.
It may now be called the Australian Football League but that was a name change in 1990.

The inconvenient truth is that two Melbourne clubs in some form moved interstate with a further 6 joining a Melbourne centric competition in the coming years. None were forced to join, they chose to. Don't now get all upset that the comp you joined doesn't fully suit you.

How can clubs be shocked when the focal point of the league is the city with which the competition was formed and you joined. There will always be more games in Victoria due to team density and complaining about it doesn't make it vicbias or something that anyone should even give a 2nd thought to.