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The season will now start a week earlier, on March 16, to allow the league to slot in 24 home-and-away weeks plus finals
English pop star Sheeran plays in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth across early March in a tour that requires venues to have at least eight days to replace enough turf to return them to an AFL-ready state.
The Herald Sun can reveal Optus Stadium has told the AFL they will not be ready for a round 1 game given they will not have enough time to replace turf and bump out the Sheeran stage to ensure it was safe for AFL footballers.
Sheeran plays a one-off concert at Optus Stadium on Sunday 12 March, which means even a Sunday AFL clash in round 1 would see the venue coming up a day short of that eight-day requirement.
Melbourne’s MCG will replace some turf but given Sheeran plays at the ground on March 2 and 3 their grounds staff will have 13 days to get the ground into AFL shape.
The Herald Sun revealed last month the AFL will do away with last year’s season opener involving the previous year’s Grand Finalists and instead return to a Carlton-Richmond Thursday season opener at the MCG.
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