2013 Fixture Discussion

[POBT]

Early season afternoon games should not be considered due to the heat factor. We might have an advantage on the day but then you have to question what impact it has on our preparation for the next week. Mr Ripper's solution is ideal - start the games at 4.40pm.

I'd be happy to get rid of some 1.10pm starts if they were replaced with 4.40pm starts.

Night games are a problem for some families. At my son's school, Auskick has just started. Parents with younger kids were scanning the fixture for an afternoon game to go to - none left unfortunately. That's not to say that night games shouldn't continue - but a few afternoon/evening games provides a balance.

On a tangent, I wouldn't be totally surprised if our round 23 match this year is a twilight Sunday game. They try and schedule two non-finals sides in that slot and we play the Dogs. Freo v Melb would be the other option.

 

[PattyKwasagun]

Our home game needs a balance of high-drawing opponents for match day takings as well as beatable opponents for our results. Also need to have our double ups against relatively easy sides, and spaced out home afternoon games rather than all just in one block as this year was.

What I think is the best (realistic, though) fixture for next year:

Rd 1: vs Gold Coast, Saturday night, 7:40pm (Away - Metricon)
Rd 2: vs Sydney, Saturday night, 7:40pm (Home - Gabba)
Rd 3: vs North Melbourne, Sunday afternoon, 1:10pm (Away - Etihad)
Rd 4: vs Collingwood, Saturday night, 7:40pm (Home - Gabba)
Rd 5: vs Port Adelaide, Saturday night, 7:40pm (Away - Adelaide)
Rd 6: vs West Coast, Saturday twilight, 4:40pm (Home - Gabba)
Rd 7: vs GWS, Saturday afternoon, 1:40pm (Away - Skoda)
Rd 8: BYE
Rd 9: vs Carlton Saturday night, 7:40pm (Home - Gabba)
Rd 10: vs St Kilda, Saturday afternoon, 1:40pm (Away - New Zealand)
Rd 11: vs Geelong, Sunday afternoon, 1:10pm (Home - Gabba)(Home - Gabba)
Rd 12: vs Essendon, Sunday afternoon, 1:10pm (Away - Etihad)
Rd 13: vs North Melbourne, Saturday twilight, 4:40pm (Home - Gabba)
Rd 14: vs Richmond, Saturday night, 7:40pm (Home - Gabba)
Rd 15: BYE
Rd 16: vs Fremantle, Sunday twilight 4:40pm (Away - Patersons)
Rd 17: vs GWS, Sunday afternoon, 3:15pm (Home - Gabba)
Rd 18: vs Western Bulldogs, Saturday afternoon, 1:40pm (Away - Etihad)
Rd 19: vs Gold Coast, Saturday night, 7:40pm (Home - Gabba)
Rd 20: vs Collingwood Saturday night, 7:40pm (Away - MCG)
Rd 21: vs Adelaide, Saturday afternoon, 1:40pm (Away - Adelaide)
Rd 22: vs Melbourne, Saturday afternoon, 1:40pm (Home - Gabba)
Rd 23: vs Hawthorn, Saturday night, 7:40pm (Away - MCG)
Rd 24: vs Fremantle, TBC (Home - Gabba)

Notes:

*Home games in red, away games in blue, byes in black.
**Seeing as Easter Sunday is March 31 next year, I doubt there'll be an Easter Thursday match for us unless the season kicks off two weeks earlier than this year, which I think is very unlikely so have left out.
***Not sure if Adelaide are playing at AAMI or Adelaide Oval next year so just wrote Adelaide.
****The part I'd be least happy with would be away to Melbourne and then Adelaide back to back, but with this schedule it's a full seven day break so it wouldn't be too bad.
*****High drawing games again Collingwood, Carlton, Hawthorn, Richmond & Gold Coast, while winnable games against the rest.
******Long break around the game in New Zealand if that's to go ahead.
*******Double ups against the Suns, North Melbourne, Collingwood, Melbourne, & GWS

I've tinkered with this a fair bit so there may be a mistake or two in there, let me know if there is.

 

[____]

Our home game needs a balance of high-drawing opponents for match day takings as well as beatable opponents for our results. Also need to have our double ups against relatively easy sides, and spaced out home afternoon games rather than all just in one block as this year was.

What I think is the best (realistic, though) fixture for next year:

Rd 1: vs Gold Coast, Saturday night, 7:40pm (Away - Metricon)
Rd 2: vs Sydney, Saturday night, 7:40pm (Home - Gabba)
Rd 3: vs North Melbourne, Sunday afternoon, 1:10pm (Away - Etihad)
Rd 4: vs Collingwood, Saturday night, 7:40pm (Home - Gabba)
Rd 5: vs Port Adelaide, Saturday night, 7:40pm (Away - Adelaide)
Rd 6: vs West Coast, Saturday twilight, 4:40pm (Home - Gabba)
Rd 7: vs GWS, Saturday afternoon, 1:40pm (Away - Skoda)
Rd 8: vs Melbourne Saturday afternoon, 3:15pm (Away - MCG)
Rd 9: vs Carlton Saturday night, 7:40pm (Home - Gabba)
Rd 10: vs St Kilda, Saturday afternoon, 1:40pm (Away - New Zealand)
Rd 11: vs Geelong, Sunday afternoon, 1:10pm (Home - Gabba)(Home - Gabba)
Rd 12: vs Essendon, Sunday afternoon, 1:10pm (Away - Etihad)
Rd 13: vs North Melbourne, Saturday twilight, 4:40pm (Home - Gabba)
Rd 14: vs Richmond, Saturday night, 7:40pm (Home - Gabba)
Rd 15: vs Fremantle, Sunday twilight 4:40pm (Away - Patersons)
Rd 16: vs GWS, Sunday afternoon, 3:15pm (Home - Gabba)
Rd 17: vs Western Bulldogs, Saturday afternoon, 1:40pm (Away - Etihad)
Rd 18: vs Gold Coast, Saturday night, 7:40pm (Home - Gabba)
Rd 19: vs Collingwood Saturday night, 7:40pm (Away - MCG)
Rd 20: vs Adelaide, Saturday afternoon, 1:40pm (Away - Adelaide)
Rd 21: vs Melbourne, Saturday afternoon, 1:40pm (Home - Gabba)
Rd 22: vs Hawthorn, Saturday night, 7:40pm (Away - Etihad)
Rd 23: vs Fremantle, TBC (Home - Gabba)

Notes:

*Home games in red, away games in blue
**Seeing as Easter Sunday is March 31 next year, I doubt there'll be an Easter Thursday match for us unless the season kicks off two weeks earlier than this year, which I think is very unlikely so have left out.
***Not sure if Adelaide are playing at AAMI or Adelaide Oval next year so just wrote Adelaide.
****The part I'd be least happy with would be away to Melbourne and then Adelaide back to back, but with this schedule it's a full seven day break so it wouldn't be too bad.
*****High drawing games again Collingwood, Carlton, Hawthorn, Richmond & Gold Coast, while winnable games against the rest.
******Long break around the game in New Zealand if that's to go ahead.
*******Double ups against the Suns, North Melbourne, Collingwood, Melbourne, & GWS

I've tinkered with this a fair bit so there may be a mistake or two in there, let me know if there is.

Not bad at first glance. Like that I get my GC away Rd 1 wish and GWS twice.
Dislike the two trips to Adelaide though.
Oh I know the Lions are going to request more 3.15pm games on Sunday.

Oh the AFL are actually going to start the season one week earlier (two byes), therefore 'Gabba, SCG and MCG will be unavailable Rd 1.

Oh you scheduled 23 games (11 home 12 away).

 

[PattyKwasagun]

Not bad at first glance. Like that I get my GC away Rd 1 wish and GWS twice.
Dislike the two trips to Adelaide though.
Oh I know the Lions are going to request more 3.15pm games on Sunday.

Oh the AFL are actually going to start the season one week earlier (two byes), therefore 'Gabba, SCG and MCG will be unavailable Rd 1.

Oh you scheduled 23 games (11 home 12 away).

Really? Two byes then... hmm, I'll update the fixture. 24 rounds next season then? 11 home, 11 away, two byes?

As for the two to Adelaide, I think pretty much every team needs to go to at least Adelaide or Perth twice in a year. Would prefer it to be Adelaide personally.

Wonder if the 3:15 request has anything to do with the large crowd numbers at the Melbourne game, or more with the hate of dew at the Saturday nights? I find it confusing, as the Broncos often play at home at that time, and clashes always result in a crowd victory to them.

 

[____]

Wonder if the 3:15 request has anything to do with the large crowd numbers at the Melbourne game, or more with the hate of dew at the Saturday nights? I find it confusing, as the Broncos often play at home at that time, and clashes always result in a crowd victory to them.

Broncos often play on Friday Nights...

3.15pm also means FTA into other states.

 

[PattyKwasagun]

Broncos often play on Friday Nights...

3.15pm also means FTA into other states.

Oh yehh that's true, for our non-QLD friends then, I hope we get a few 3:15's too.

And I haven't supported the Broncos for a number of years, but when I did they played probably a 50/50 split of Friday nights and Sunday afternoons. May well have changed since then though, I won't claim to know.

 

[____]

Oh yehh that's true, for our non-QLD friends then, I hope we get a few 3:15's too.

And I haven't supported the Broncos for a number of years, but when I did they played probably a 50/50 split of Friday nights and Sunday afternoons. May well have changed since then though, I won't claim to know.

Changed in 2007 with the new TV deal (two Friday Night games instead of one). One FN game is the NSW game of the round, the other the QLD game of the round. Broncos being the most popular team in QLD will often play on Friday Nights, hence why I suggested the Lions get a FN game when the Broncos have a bye.

I don't mind the 3.15pm start but IMO seeing an AFL match goes for nearly three hours, it is essentially a twilight game (in the middle of the year).

3.15pm would be the perfect start times for early season games (just like how I like 4pm starts for Roar Sunday games).

 

[PattyKwasagun]

Changed in 2007 with the new TV deal (two Friday Night games instead of one). One FN game is the NSW game of the round, the other the QLD game of the round. Broncos being the most popular team in QLD will often play on Friday Nights, hence why I suggested the Lions get a FN game when the Broncos have a bye.

I don't mind the 3.15pm start but IMO seeing an AFL match goes for nearly three hours, it is essentially a twilight game (in the middle of the year).

3.15pm would be the perfect start times for early season games (just like how I like 4pm starts for Roar Sunday games).

Ohh ok. Yehh I wouldn't mind a Friday night match, and considering we won't get our Easter Thursday game next year they may give it to us.

I don't mind 3:15 either from where I sit, but I know quite a few on the other side of the stadium who hate it because of the setting sun. Not much you can do about that though, sadly, but probably why 4:40 works well too. Personally I prefer our Saturday matches, and absolutely love the new twilight slot, so I'd love if we got a few more of them (hence why I put them in my mock fixture).

 

[____]

Ohh ok. Yehh I wouldn't mind a Friday night match, and considering we won't get our Easter Thursday game next year they may give it to us.

I don't mind 3:15 either from where I sit, but I know quite a few on the other side of the stadium who hate it because of the setting sun. Not much you can do about that though, sadly, but probably why 4:40 works well too. Personally I prefer our Saturday matches, and absolutely love the new twilight slot, so I'd love if we got a few more of them (hence why I put them in my mock fixture).

Twilight, like.
Night (especially w/ 7.40pm start), massive dislike (okay for TV, so wouldn't mind away games at that time, but not home games.

As I said before if it were purely up to me our home games would be afternoon/twilight and away games would be twilight/night.

 

[Bert Man]

GC twice would be a probable outcome in next years fixture.

 

[PattyKwasagun]

Twilight, like.
Night (especially w/ 7.40pm start), massive dislike (okay for TV, so wouldn't mind away games at that time, but not home games.

As I said before if it were purely up to me our home games would be afternoon/twilight and away games would be twilight/night.

In many ways I agree with you, but I know the bare minimum Saturday night home games we'd get would be 5 of the 11. Probably 6 to be honest. History shows they're the highest drawing games, and when we're struggling financially, that really is a big, big factor.

 

[Unfinished]

Rd 23: vs Hawthorn, Saturday night, 7:40pm (Away - Etihad)

Good luck with that.

 

[PattyKwasagun]

Good luck with that.

Do you look all over bigfooty to find Hawthorn posts? Suit yourself... But I did mention ideal fixture. I'm also expecting Demetriou and his team to be relatively thoughtful of us with the fixture considering his radio comments a while back about supporting us.

 

[Unfinished]

Do you look all over bigfooty to find Hawthorn posts? Suit yourself... But I did mention ideal fixture. I'm also expecting Demetriou and his team to be relatively thoughtful of us with the fixture considering his radio comments a while back about supporting us.

Ahh i'm just saying good luck playing us at Etihad..

The MCG is our home ground..

 

[PattyKwasagun]

Ahh i'm just saying good luck playing us at Etihad..

The MCG is our home ground..

Hahaha, my bad. I tinkered around with a bit as I said, so must've had us down to play an Etihad team that night. I'll change it

 

[Last of the Roys]

At least 6 games in Melbourne as per the merger agreement (Geelong is not a part of Melbourne - in case the AFL forget as they continually used to).

I would actually also prefer them at the MCG over Etihad because of the great Lions atmosphere that often exists in the Ponsford Stand behind the goals.

 

[Dylan12]

Minimum of 6 games in Melbourne is a must (not including Geelong) and 7 if inclusive of Geelong and/or Tasmania (under the anomoly that construes Tasmania as a Melbourne game).

Following on from that, one game in Perth, Adelaide, Sydney (GWS) and obviously the Suns.

In Brisbane, some teams that rarely venture to Brisbane, such as Hawthorn.

Can someone enlighten me on whatever happened to that QLD Government/Stadiums deal which I thought meant that the Suns home game against us would be played at the Gabba in their first 5 years or so.

 

[____]

If it were up to me
7 away games in Melbourne and
1 each for Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and Gold Coast.
Although if I could be unrealistic I'd like a Victorian team to sell one home game to Byron Bay (or the Sunshine Coast) and have a home game against us.

 

[doddgey]

Minimum of 6 games in Melbourne is a must (not including Geelong) and 7 if inclusive of Geelong and/or Tasmania (under the anomoly that construes Tasmania as a Melbourne game).

Following on from that, one game in Perth, Adelaide, Sydney (GWS) and obviously the Suns.

In Brisbane, some teams that rarely venture to Brisbane, such as Hawthorn.

Can someone enlighten me on whatever happened to that QLD Government/Stadiums deal which I thought meant that the Suns home game against us would be played at the Gabba in their first 5 years or so.

They were released from that commitment by the State Govt with the deal to upgrade Metricon I think

 

[Jorgo]

Easter Thursday still on the cards for Round 1..

 

[____]

Easter Thursday still on the cards for Round 1..

Are they going to revert back to one bye (after saying they want two byes)?

 

[Jorgo]

Are they going to revert back to one bye (after saying they want two byes)?

Yes.

 

[____]

Yes.

The AFL will probably want a Carlton v Richmond season opener. They might make both games on Easter Thursday and have the Lions game start later (considering they have Daylight Savings and we don't).

 

[Caiphus]

I don't want a soft draw yet, I want to be supremely battle hardened when we hit our window.

 

[____]

Yep Jorgo is right. There goes my Round 1 wish

http://www.afl.com.au/tabid/208/default.aspx?newsid=142844

THE AFL has been forced to backtrack on plans to institute two byes for the 2013 season, the League has confirmed.​

​

Announcing the key dates for the 2013 fixture, the AFL said the season structure would be essentially unchanged from this year. ​

Next year's fixture will comprise 22 games over 23 rounds, with one bye per club. ​

The League had considered starting the season one week earlier to allow each club to have two byes, in accordance with a request from the AFL Players' Association (AFLPA).​

But the AFL said the plan was unworkable because several grounds were unavailable due to cricket commitments.​

The League remains hopeful of striking a deal with the State Government, the MCG, and Cricket Australia/Cricket Victoria to enable two byes to be included for future seasons. ​

"The AFL did consider various options around starting the season one week earlier, to enable two byes for all clubs, but have not done so for the primary reason that a number of key venues are unavailable due to cricket commitments at the SCG, the MCG and the Gabba," AFL General Manager Broadcasting, Scheduling and Legal Affairs Simon Lethlean said.​

"It was determined that beginning the season without three key venues would be too big a disruption in terms of achieving the best outcome for the fixture and we fully respect the commitments that Cricket Australia has in March and it was not possible currently that we begin the season early. ​