Fixture 2026 Fixture Discussion

[Norm De Guerre]

You guys understand that its the way of things in this competition that somebody has to eat shit so that the big sides can eat the Cray Fish and Caviar of Marquee games right?

 

[Johnny_Dogg4]

 

[dogwatch]

Would love some transparency on how they do a fixture. Some of the things this fixture has shit out is so weird.

...

I'm pretty confident the order of priorities they would follow go something like this ...

1. Network bids (within the obvious constraints that every club has to play every other club at least once, and their published rules relating to the top 6/middle 6/bottom 6)

... some distance ...

2. Bids from the clubs themselves


... daylight ...


3. A rough sort of equity for all clubs





... light years ...





4. All combinations of fixtures, matchups, venues played at, etc are catered for over say a 5-10 year period (as far as mathematically possible)

And depending on our level of paranoia we could put in
1a. Look after Geelong and other Old Boy connections.



Look, it is what it is. It's the AFL. A commercial organisation that happens to run some sporting events. Money always comes first, second and third. Then (maybe) the Old Boys network. Then the fans, the sport itself and the other (non Old Boy) clubs.

If you want to follow professional Australian footy, this is what you get. Take it or leave it. If you don't like the commercialisation, follow your local amateur/semi-professional clubs.

I understand why people are upset (I agree it's not equitable and I don't like it either, FWIW) but it's not going to change any time soon.

As others have said we just need to stop whingeing, get on with it and win some games.

 

[Doggies7]

Oh how is the fixture release going guys, looks lik...

 

[Foxman98]

Well at least we will know how good we are early

 

[Libbaaaa]

View attachment 2475980

Our home games against the Eagles, Tigers and Norf will most likely be day games.

 

[Dogman 1]

Only one way of stopping this bs of playing at Geelong and I know it wont happen but we need to boycott that game. Everyone needs to stay home. Revenue will be down for AFL and Cats then they might take notice.

 

[Libbaaaa]

Only one way of stopping this bs of playing at Geelong and I know it wont happen but we need to boycott that game. Everyone needs to stay home. Revenue will be down for AFL and Cats then they might take notice.

The Cats never get close to selling out home games anyway so it won't have any effect.

 

[LondonBulldog]

This is why I constantly state on here its just so much harder for the Dogs to make top 4 compared to other clubs. This year we should have got 2 sides from the bottom 6, we got 1 in Melbourne. Geelong in Geelong, good teams away.

Compare that to Port next year (had a bad year but far from a bad side)

3 bottom 6 twice (1 for us)
1 top 6 twice (2 for us)

With all being equal they start the year off 3 games ahead of us.

Play each other once and have 1 rivalry double up, 18 games season and be done with it.

 

[Optimistic Dog]

I'm pretty confident the order of priorities they would follow go something like this ...

1. Network bids (within the obvious constraints that every club has to play every other club at least once, and their published rules relating to the top 6/middle 6/bottom 6)

... some distance ...

2. Bids from the clubs themselves


... daylight ...


3. A rough sort of equity for all clubs





... light years ...





4. All combinations of fixtures, matchups, venues played at, etc are catered for over say a 5-10 year period (as far as mathematically possible)

And depending on our level of paranoia we could put in
1a. Look after Geelong and other Old Boy connections.



Look, it is what it is. It's the AFL. A commercial organisation that happens to run some sporting events. Money always comes first, second and third. Then (maybe) the Old Boys network. Then the fans, the sport itself and the other (non Old Boy) clubs.

If you want to follow professional Australian footy, this is what you get. Take it or leave it. If you don't like the commercialisation, follow your local amateur/semi-professional clubs.

I understand why people are upset (I agree it's not equitable and I don't like it either, FWIW) but it's not going to change any time soon.

As others have said we just need to stop whingeing, get on with it and win some games.

I can accept who we play and how many day games, night games and short breaks. However, as a member who loves attending as opposed to watching on TV I cannot accept the first home game is round 4 and 1 home game after 6. They cannot even give us a Melbourne based game in round 6.

Rounds 1,2 and 5 interstate.
Round 3 Bye
Round 4 home
Round 6 at Geelong

That is a disaster for members and the club wanting to increase membership. How in hell can we played on one Melbourne based game in 6 rounds. Ok I know you have bye and gather round but give us a break 6 rounds is 25% of the season and we have one home/Melbourne based game.

 

[Libbaaaa]

I can accept who we play and how many day games, night games and short breaks. However, as a member who loves attending as opposed to watching on TV I cannot accept the first home game is round 4 and 1 home game after 6. They cannot even give us a Melbourne based game in round 6.

Rounds 1,2 and 5 interstate.
Round 3 Bye
Round 4 home
Round 6 at Geelong

That is a disaster for members and the club wanting to increase membership. How in hell can we played on one Melbourne based game in 6 rounds. Ok I know you have bye and gather round but give us a break 6 rounds is 25% of the season and we have one home/Melbourne based game.

Isn't round 1 at home against GWS?

 

[Chicago1]

Might be able to go to Round 1 vs GWS and Round 11 vs Melbourne. Both home day games at Marvel. Hooray! Just texted my friend to put them on her calendar.

 

[Optimistic Dog]

Isn't round 1 at home against GWS?

Yeah correct my bad missed round 1 looked at opening round.

 

[CarnTheScray]

AFL trying their hardest to keep Carlton and Essendon relevant in their floundering years. Undeniable now. How do Carlton have so many prime time games! They are boring to watch.

 

[CarnTheScray]

There is genuinely a greater probability of peace in the Middle East than us getting Geelong at Marvel.

 

[Doggy]

Kornes has tweeted port will start 5 - 0

 

[Bald]

The fixture melts are always fun.

Supporters from a few clubs would've been pretty satisfied drawing Gold Coast or Adelaide twice for the 2025 season - one finished on top of the ladder and the other plays a few games in Darwin where they're a cheat code, teams always fall off. Melbourne and Carlton should be rubbish next year, Sydney and Fremantle should be around us and Geelong and Hawthorn will go in to the season ahead of us. For a mid-table team that's fine.

The gripe I have is that we play a few MCG tenants at Marvel when these are perfectly good examples of games I'd give up a Marvel appearance for to play extra games at the MCG.

 

[Bald Headed Flog]

For the love of God. Just once… A single time… I’d like to avoid travelling to that piece of shit GMHBA stadium.

 

[LondonBulldog]

Kornes has tweeted port will start 5 - 0

Great chance to make finals, easiest draw you could ask for, new coach bounce as well. 6 wins banked minimum by beating Dons, Roos and Eagles twice. The add tigers, Dees, gets you to 8. Through a saints, blues win, 10 already.

They will be the big bounce for sure, guaranteed top 10 (finals) due to an easy draw.

 

[Doggy]

Great chance to make finals, easiest draw you could ask for, new coach bounce as well. 6 wins banked minimum by beating Dons, Roos and Eagles twice. The add tigers, Dees, gets you to 8. Through a saints, blues win, 10 already.

They will be the big bounce for sure, guaranteed top 10 (finals) due to an easy draw.

It's still Port at the end of the day.

They could lose any of those

 

[weltschmerz]

As a millennial, Port’s fixture reveal is bloody incredible

 

[Snarls Barkley]

Everyone getting their excuses in early

We had a tough draw at the start of last year and we handled it fine, even with some untimely injuries. We set ourselves up perfectly for a top 4 finish and then pissed away every 50-50 game when we got into the easier part of the draw, a bunch of times at Marvel

 

[Dogs Rule]

I'll be honest I was pleasantly surprised by the fixture....

I thought we would be scheduled to play against Sniff at S***hole Stadium twice.

The AFL genuinely just do the exact opposite to what people want.

They have a captive audience and they couldn't give a toss about fans.

Success for a club like ours will have to happen in spite of the d***ing around of the AFL and their various fixes.

 

[flipper83]

The thing that worries me

Everyone getting their excuses in early

We had a tough draw at the start of last year and we handled it fine, even with some untimely injuries. We set ourselves up perfectly for a top 4 finish and then pissed away every 50-50 game when we got into the easier part of the draw, a bunch of times at Marvel

It's actually the soft run into finals that worries me the most. We were playing better football at the start of this year, despite the losses, than we were at the end. Beating up on shit teams means players can get away with cheating defensively and don't have to perform under any pressure. Bad habits slip in and it's not an ideal preparation for finals

 

[Libbaaaa]

Kornes has tweeted port will start 5 - 0

They are playing some crap teams and the Saints at home who could be anything.