2026 fixture wishlist/discussion

[dlanod]

Why dress it up as a "Wild Card" round? There’s nothing wild about it, unless you count the wild stretch it takes to justify it. It’s a top 10 finals system, plain and simple, where more than half the league gets to participate. Let’s just call it what it is: participation finals.

Because naming weekends is what American sports do.

I'm sure they're working on a catchy name for the first week of finals so it can be:

1. Wild Card Round
2. <Something> Round
3. Semi-Final Round
4. Preliminary Final Round
5. Grand Final (Round)

 

[Viceregal]

Because naming weekends is what American sports do.

I'm sure they're working on a catchy name for the first week of finals so it can be:

1. Wild Card Round
2. <Something> Round
3. Semi-Final Round
4. Preliminary Final Round
5. Grand Final (Round)

Elimination Finals 1.0
Elimination Finals 2.0

Or
Round where seven and eight don't deserve a rest and are made even less relevant in the Finals series and
Round where 5 and 6 get to relax and destroy what's left of the 7 to 10 cohort and tune up to take on the loser of the likely hard fought 1 to 4 cohort

 

[Section 5]

To start with stop calling it a "Wildcard Round" it is now a top 10 finals series.

7th & 8th now have to win 5 elimination finals instead of 4 so they just made that nearly impossible

Winners being the AFL revenue for two extra finals games & the media like Channel 7 gain 2 extra games to broadcast.
9th & 10th could be also classed as winners.

Loses being the game itself with the perception of rewarding mediocrity. Teams finishing 7th & 8th.

The AFL created a bye round before finals. Instead of cancelling that, they decided to fill it with this format.
However, why cancel when there is money to be made

At the end of the day, it is just a rule change regarding finals.
Some will hate it others will like it, and the rest probably don't care much

The AFL added 9 extra games to the season in 2023 being Gather Round
Now in 2026 there will be 11 more games than season 2022.

 

[ZoBlitz]

They are actually calling it the wildcard round so they can get a separate sponsor for it. The whole thing is imbued with greed by everyone involved.

 

[braddsey]

i don’t hate the final-10. Reward mediocrity… whatever.

The fixture is unbalanced. Clubs can bounce from the bottom-6 to the top-6, and clubs fall out of top-4 to out of finals based on fixture inequality.
How good would it have been to see Sydney knock Adelaide out of the finals from 10th?

No chance any team can win GF from 7-10, but the only team that could win from 7&8 was a VIC team because they avoid the travel.
I’d rather watch a couple of knockout matches in the pre-finals bye weekend, than watch nothing!

It also reduced the number of games of no consequence once a team can no longer make the 8, and teams will play their arses off to make the top-6.

 

[Saucery]

I'm not sure it rewards mediocrity, surely now finishing in the top six is the imperative to miss the side show. No one from below fifth has ever won the big show anyway. Also remember the AFL will be negotiating with DANZ for the next telecast rights. The more they can get the AFL looking like a eu/usa sporting package the easier sell it will be.

 

[Saucery]

They are actually calling it the wildcard round so they can get a separate sponsor for it. The whole thing is imbued with greed by everyone involved.

 

[Mr Ripper]

View attachment 2473633

Freud would have a field day with that corporate logo.

 

[Saucery]

Freud would have a field day with that corporate logo.

Interesting, why don't you sit down and tell me about your mother.

 

[braddsey]

I'm not sure it rewards mediocrity, surely now finishing in the top six is the imperative to miss the side show. No one from below fifth has ever won the big show anyway. Also remember the AFL will be negotiating with DANZ for the next telecast rights. The more they can get the AFL looking like a eu/usa sporting package the easier sell it will be.

 

[Nunez]

They are actually calling it the wildcard round so they can get a separate sponsor for it. The whole thing is imbued with greed by everyone involved.

This. If it was done in the name of balance and fairness I'd be okay, but it's very clearly a money grab that dilutes finals.

Classic AFL, really.

 

[DevRoboGun]

You can't win a flag from 7-10 now? Well... I know one team that could.

10th on the ladder incoming for the Lions next year.

 

[DevRoboGun]

I suspect a part of this may also be planning for a 19/20 team league. When Tassie come into he league it would be top 8 and bottom 11. That's pretty brutal.

 

[Mr Ripper]

Interesting, why don't you sit down and tell me about your mother.

View attachment 2473641

I was thinking more Tairy Greene 's cuckold story

 

[Elixuh]

Every single little initiative this admin has come up with to boost revenue has been so LAME.

In saying that I’m a bit of a wildcard myself so enjoy the thought of this concept.

 

[davemc_lions]

Why are Richmond selling a home game? Aren't they supposed to be Big4/Tiger Army etc ....

They rather go to Tassie then Marvel

 

[Saucery]

View attachment 2473672

Oops I stand corrected; this is what you get when you use ChatGPT as an editor. I should never have fired Winston.

 

[GenericUsername202]

Am i the only one who likes Wild Card round? Theoretically speaking, it's an 18 team comp, so having a top 8 isn't the same as it was when there were 16 teams. You had to include more teams in it, especially with the possibilities of new teams entering the comp. I swear, people become the biggest wingers when there is the slightest bit of change. I wonder how the football world exploded when they upgraded the original finals format to a top 8 back in the day.

 

[dlanod]

Am i the only one who likes Wild Card round? Theoretically speaking, it's an 18 team comp, so having a top 8 isn't the same as it was when there were 16 teams. You had to include more teams in it, especially with the possibilities of new teams entering the comp. I swear, people become the biggest wingers when there is the slightest bit of change. I wonder how the football world exploded when they upgraded the original finals format to a top 8 back in the day.

I don't hate it. I'd rather have a couple of games than have a bye week before finals. Once Tassie is sorted and the 20th team comes in it gets us back to 50% in finals which seems like a sweet spot, and 10th will stop regularly having a losing record.

 

[MSB ROYS]

Am i the only one who likes Wild Card round? Theoretically speaking, it's an 18 team comp, so having a top 8 isn't the same as it was when there were 16 teams. You had to include more teams in it, especially with the possibilities of new teams entering the comp. I swear, people become the biggest wingers when there is the slightest bit of change. I wonder how the football world exploded when they upgraded the original finals format to a top 8 back in the day.

IMO, would have better to start with 8 vs 9 only. See how it goes and implement both games when Tasmania starts.

 

[Warwick]

So now we’re getting 4 double ups from the top 6, what are the chances our double ups will look something like: Geelong, Collingwood, GCS, Hawthorn, Bulldogs, Swans??

 

[wantok]

So now we’re getting 4 double ups from the top 6, what are the chances our double ups will look something like: Geelong, Collingwood, GCS, Hawthorn, Bulldogs, Swans??

The Handicapper has struck again.

 

[Lions Flag 2020]

So now we’re getting 4 double ups from the top 6, what are the chances our double ups will look something like: Geelong, Collingwood, GCS, Hawthorn, Bulldogs, Swans??

They continue to change the rules to try and make us lose. Start of this year it was police the 15m harder to stop our uncontested marks. After we win the comp next year they will bring in a rule that the Lions can only play with 17 on the field at any one time!

 

[Big Sauce 21]

Geelong better have 4. Make up for multiple years of rubbish fixtures.

Also looks like it will be released on Thursday ? No leaks straight into it ??

 

[Saucery]

They continue to change the rules to try and make us lose. Start of this year it was police the 15m harder to stop our uncontested marks. After we win the comp next year they will bring in a rule that the Lions can only play with 17 on the field at any one time!

Pretty sure Geelong had four more players on the ground last year and we still won, bring it on.