2026 fixture wishlist/discussion

[Perrip]

 

[MSB ROYS]

(Sorry to our Tasmanian supporters but) WTF. taking an MCG game away from us.

 

[Section 5]

Just chasing money having 2 extra finals.
Media get 2 extra games both finals, so they won't complain.
So now the teams sitting 11-12 and within striking distance of 10th will still have some hope come R19

Without me thinking about it too much, the usual 7th and 8th teams will now have to win 5 knockout games to win a GF instead of 4

I suppose it makes it much harder for the premiers to drop out of the 10 the following year

 

[briztoon]

 

[Lets Roar like '44]

(Sorry to our Tasmanian supporters but) WTF. taking an MCG game away from us.

What’s news? We will get the normal 3 games in melb at shit times, then 1 at Geelong.

 

[Mazza44]

Why on earth are they selling our game to Tasmania when every other non-Victorian team draws less supporters in Melbourne?

 

[Section 5]

This year that would have been Suns (7) v Swans (10) and Hawks (8) v Dogs (9)

 

[Viceregal]

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

 

[Simbatheking21]

We won the last grand final before the game went to utter s&$t

 

[haystark]

Might be the only person on this board happy with this

Hope a few Melb-based supporters jump on the plane and come down.

 

[Mr Ripper]

Looks like I’ll receive plenty of opportunities to remind everyone that I warned you about Swanny.

 

[Cousin Jed]

Great news for Hutchy

 

[Nathan Barley]

I like it. Adds a fair bit of jeopardy for teams finishing in the middle of the ladder

 

[BuntonRules]

Beats having the bye.

 

[Hollow Knight]

Looks like I’ll receive plenty of opportunities to remind everyone that I warned you about Swanny.

This is what happens when you put some former Collingwood and Carlton crony in charge.

Classic VFL!

 

[CarterS]

We have 8 away games in Tasmania in the last 10 years which is equal most with GWS, I believe. We are 3-4-1 in those games.

 

[____]

Finishing 10th on the ladder next year will be like having intercourse with a prostitute.

Sure you technically did it, but you know deep down you didn't really achieve anything.

 

[royboy2]

What’s news? We will get the normal 3 games in melb at shit times, then 1 at Geelong.

Its a ****ing joke. Not to mention the Geelong game doest count as part of our membership.
Its at a point now as well, where you would almost be better of buying tickets game by game rather than support the club with a membership, which is bs. (Would miss GF though obviously)

 

[lionraven]

I dont mind having a wild card round. There are so many inconsistencies in the current HA season anyway that it doesnt matter. We all know top 4 is what matters anway. The rest are largely also rans 90 percent of the time.

Given that some teams get an extra home game, some teama get to sell their home games, some teams barely travel whilst others travel a lot, some teams get to double up on bottom 4 teams whilst others get the hardest schedule, it doesnt seem too disturbing tonlet 9th and 10th play a final.

It would allow for some leeway in the season. Teams like Dogs and Swans this year had a bunch of key injuries thst hamstrung their season. They arent a league worse than GC or Freo. All those teams were noncontenders for the flag anyway. Complaining about 9th and 10th playing a laregely inconsequential final has as much merit as complaining that 5th to 8th get to play finals. They largely wont matter but will add more colour to the season, and sometimes miracles do happen.

 

[Warwick]

I dont mind having a wild card round. There are so many inconsistencies in the current HA season anyway that it doesnt matter. We all know top 4 is what matters anway. The rest are largely also rans 90 percent of the time.

Given that some teams get an extra home game, some teama get to sell their home games, some teams barely travel whilst others travel a lot, some teams get to double up on bottom 4 teams whilst others get the hardest schedule, it doesnt seem too disturbing tonlet 9th and 10th play a final.

It would allow for some leeway in the season. Teams like Dogs and Swans this year had a bunch of key injuries thst hamstrung their season. They arent a league worse than GC or Freo. All those teams were noncontenders for the flag anyway. Complaining about 9th and 10th playing a laregely inconsequential final has as much merit as complaining that 5th to 8th get to play finals. They largely wont matter but will add more colour to the season, and sometimes miracles do happen.

Yep I don’t see the big deal, I don’t mind it either. Beats having a dead weekend with no footy in late August.

The best thing about it is it gives the 5th and 6th placed finishers an even bigger advantage over 7-10.

 

[rye]

wild card round is nowhere near as bad as opening round and the current bye structure the afl has. just give us one week in the middle of the year where all teams have a bye instead of this 5 weeks of byes rubbish.

 

[morsie]

8v9 would have been enough

When I started watching 12 teams 4 in the finals.Now 18 teams and ten in the finals.Talk about rewarding mediocrity

 

[Dalions]

When I started watching 12 teams 4 in the finals.Now 18 teams and ten in the finals.Talk about rewarding mediocrity

It keeps the fans of 2 more teams interested for just a little bit longer so for the game I don’t think that’s a bad thing.
It is very doubtful that teams that finish the regular season in 9th and 10th will stand any real chance but it does keep their fans engaged, which would be good for the game.

 

[____]

Hey guys, I know generally online petitions don't actually achieve anything in the grand scheme of things, however it realistically is the only way to make our voices heard. Sadly we all love our Lions and the actual game too much to actually have a meaningful boycott of games.

[Petition to get rid of the final 10 and revert to the proper final 8 system.]

[Petition to remove Andrew Dillon as the CEO of the AFL.]

If you guys could get as many people to sign these petitions as possible it would be appreciated. I don't have Facebook so if you can share on your socials even better.

 

[irel]

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.