Fixture 2026 Fixture Discussion

[ossie_21]

I can’t wait for Dillon to just step down…

 

[BallaratBulldog]

I can’t wait for Dillon to just step down…

A classic case of you dont know what you had until its gone.

Despite criticism Gill did okay and did navigate the covid years well.

 

[glenashley]

All they've really done is make it that you need to finish top 6 to have a chance of winning the flag.

A whole bunch of pointless games surrounding it now.

 

[grassman75]

So many what ifs now

1. What if St’k are locked in 10th and can’t be displaced in the last round - Will Ross the Boss rest 14 players. For Wild Card round? Will that mean we will need a pre wildcard round bye?

2. What if the team in 7th cops two concussions to two star players in the last round and gets rolled by a team who could only manage 8.5 wins for the season?

3. What if Dillon had their heads so far up their arses they couldn’t go any further but somehow managed.

4. What if us, the fans went on strike against this - would it matter? It’s a TV game now anyway


I honestly can’t believe how amateur this league is….there is no need or want for this and we probably could have benefitted from it last year and maybe others. You just know we are finishing 11th this year on % aren’t we.

There are so many other better options that provide a fairer fixture that won’t / haven’t been explored because it reduces revenue

**** you AFL

 

[stevieg1969]

Does a wildcard win count as a finals win? Asking for Essendon fans in 2039.

 

[grassman75]

Does a wildcard win count as a finals win? Asking for Essendon fans in 2039.

According to Dill they are finals so yes, they will claim it….at least people might stop complaining about us winning from 7th

We may be the only team to ever do it now

 

[Eastdog]

We should not be rewarding mediocrity. Looking back to 2016 when we won the flag from 7th we would have played the team in 10th Port that year in this wildcard round who had 5 less wins compared to us (15 vs 10) and potentially could have gone out!

Glad that it was not around then. We finished 9th this year but so be it. The final rounds of the season can be very exciting despite a number of games not having a bearing on it.

The AFL and broadcasters are all in as are the media.

Also the AFLPA I believe were wanting less games not more.

 

[glenashley]

I know we've actually been here for a while but we are no doubt into the 'bread and circuses' phase of the AFL.

 

[grassman75]

We should not be rewarding mediocrity. Looking back to 2016 when we won the flag from 7th we would have played the team in 10th Port that year in this wildcard round who had 5 less wins compared to us (15 vs 10) and potentially could have gone out!

Glad that it was not around then. We finished 9th this year but so be it. The final rounds of the season can be very exciting despite a number of games not having a bearing on it.

The AFL and broadcasters are all in as are the media.

Also the AFLPA I believe were wanting less games not more.

This is the exact example I give for why I’m against it

Remember we had a metric **** tonne of injuries that year and lost to Freo in Rd 23 or 24 or whatever it was before getting the much maligned bye which gave our players a chance to get up for the Elim in Perth. If we had to play Port in a wildcard round, a team who was 20pts behind us on the ladder, those players don’t get up and although we probably don’t lose, we certainly don’t go on and win out from there. Lightning in a bottle wasn’t going to get us 5 wins with that injury toll.

Now look at the proposal and imagine we lost Bont and Darcy to concussion in Rd 24 and they were unavailable for the wildcard. It sucks arse

 

[Libbaaaa]

This is the exact example I give for why I’m against it

Remember we had a metric **** tonne of injuries that year and lost to Freo in Rd 23 or 24 or whatever it was before getting the much maligned bye which gave our players a chance to get up for the Elim in Perth. If we had to play Port in a wildcard round, a team who was 20pts behind us on the ladder, those players don’t get up and although we probably don’t lose, we certainly don’t go on and win out from there. Lightning in a bottle wasn’t going to get us 5 wins with that injury toll.

Now look at the proposal and imagine we lost Bont and Darcy to concussion in Rd 24 and they were unavailable for the wildcard. It sucks arse

I look forward to when a team that is locked into 7th, 8th, 9th or 10th place just pulls a Ross Lyon and rests all its players the week before playing a wildcard game.

 

[VL3OJ]

So you may get to play a team three times in a year and other teams just once. Sounds like an extremely well thought out plan after Melbourne Cup Day in Little Bourke Street at around Midnight

 

[Sentinel]

So you may get to play a team three times in a year and other teams just once. Sounds like an extremely well thought out plan after Melbourne Cup Day in Little Bourke Street at around Midnight

You can already play a side 4 times in a season and others just once.

Brisbane played Geelong this year on 29th March, 20th June, 5th September and 27th September. Meanwhile they played West Coast on 23rd of March only.

 

[grassman75]

I look forward to when a team that is locked into 7th, 8th, 9th or 10th place just pulls a Ross Lyon and rests all its players the week before playing a wildcard game.

Like I said pre wild round bye incoming

 

[grassman75]

You can already play a side 4 times in a season and others just once.

Brisbane played Geelong this year on 29th March, 20th June, 5th September and 27th September. Meanwhile they played West Coast on 23rd of March only.

I think they mean in regular season, not finals. Wild card round is NOT finals despite what the AFL will spruik it as. It’s a chance to make the top 8 finals

 

[Bulldogs85]

The full fixture will be announced on Thursday

League makes big change to weighted rule ahead of fixture reveal

Teams can play up to four other teams in their ladder range, previously three, from next season

www.afl.com.au

 

[Libbaaaa]

The full fixture will be announced on Thursday

League makes big change to weighted rule ahead of fixture reveal

Teams can play up to four other teams in their ladder range, previously three, from next season

www.afl.com.au

Another change made out of the blue, cool.

 

[Bulldogs85]

Another change made out of the blue, cool.

The only thing the clowns are great at doing lately

 

[grassman75]

Another change made out of the blue, cool.

To be fair, this one makes more sense

 

[Sentinel]

I think they mean in regular season, not finals. Wild card round is NOT finals despite what the AFL will spruik it as. It’s a chance to make the top 8 finals

It is finals, and is definitely not regular season. It's an expanded finals series to now include the top 10, being a knock out competition (with some double chances) which is not part of the home and away season. You cant spin it any other way.

 

[MYOB]

It's now a final 10, simple as that

 

[MYOB]

Thinking it’s probably Saturday night or Sunday arvo based on the order of games if Swans V Blues is the opener.

No way is it an afternoon game in Qld in March

 

[grassman75]

It is finals, and is definitely not regular season. It's an expanded finals series to now include the top 10, being a knock out competition (with some double chances) which is not part of the home and away season. You cant spin it any other way.

It’s a steaming dog turd. That’s how I’ll spin it

 

[Guido]

I was only in my teens and didn't really know what the general fan consensus was, but was there this much hate for a change in 1994 when the 8 was introduced and it meant over half the comp made finals?

The push back is all about "rewarding mediocrity", however the main argument in the last few pages has been that it's now going to be much harder for 7th and 8th to go far in finals - for those finishing 5th or 6th, other than just home ground, which in many cases, doesn't exist (eg: playing Hawthorn at the 'G), shouldn't there be more of an advantage over the "more mediocre" 7th and 8th?

 

[dogwatch]

I was only in my teens and didn't really know what the general fan consensus was, but was there this much hate for a change in 1994 when the 8 was introduced and it meant over half the comp made finals?

The push back is all about "rewarding mediocrity", however the main argument in the last few pages has been that it's now going to be much harder for 7th and 8th to go far in finals - for those finishing 5th or 6th, other than just home ground, which in many cases, doesn't exist (eg: playing Hawthorn at the 'G), shouldn't there be more of an advantage over the "more mediocre" 7th and 8th?

From 1931 to 1971 there was just a final four (Page-McIntyre system) in a 12 team competition. That's 33% of the teams making the finals. But of course that was pre-TV for the first 25 years and only grainy B&W TV for the rest of its duration. The comp was popular but largely uncommercialised. It was unrecognisable compared to today's slick presentation from which a large portion of the AFL's revenue comes via TV & streaming rights.

From 1972 to 1990 (the year the AFL was formed) it was a top 5 system which for most of that time was 5/12ths or 42% of the teams. West Coast and Brisbane joined for the last few years of that era so it was briefly back to only 35% of teams.

Then from 1991 to 1993 it was a final six but Adelaide had joined as part of the national expansion. So it was 6/15 or 40% of teams.

From 1994 to 2025 it has been a final 8 as the competition has steadily increased.
1994 - 15 teams - 53%
1995 - 16 teams - 50% (Fitzroy exited after the 1996 season but Port Adelaide replaced them)
2011 - 17 teams - 47%
2012 - 18 teams - 44%
In 2026 it looks like it's going to be a final 10 out of 18 teams (56%) but reducing slightly to 53% when Tasmania joins the comp.

So in half a century since 1972 it has been 40% or more except for a few short years as the expansion was taking off in the late 1980s.


(I had tried to post a much longer response but for some reason I kept getting the Oops! error message)

 

[Here we go dogs]

Wonder if we had a wild card home ‘final’ whether it would be played at marvel.

I reckon the crowd drawing of these games will be poor. No supporter base is dumb enough to think finishing 10th is a good result.

It’s so short sighted in my mind it actually reduces the number of teams that can win a premiership to 6.

And the poster above is right of course if you are locked into a position between 7-10 at round 23 or 24 (whenever the **** the season finishes) you should absolutely rest all your good players. The top 6 teams get a bye and you are cooked if you don’t get some rest.

I reckon the AFL is heading towards blowing the current fixture up and moving towards conferences like the NFL.