Fixture 2026 Fixture

[Saints4ever]

You get an extra game at your home ground not sure it's worth complaining about really

That’s why Adelaide vs Port should be in gather round

 

[Mat Mann]

Where did you get these numbers from? Because they are wrong.

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Home games is very deceptive because St Kilda, W Bulldogs and North all play Coll, Ess, Carl, Rich, Haw and Geel at Marvel (which prop up those numbers) whilst Ess and Carl mostly play those games at the MCG. It’s actually worse for the MCG clubs who exclusively play GWS, GC and WCE at Marvel.

Essendon, Carlton (and Collingwood) do prop up Marvel. Those are the clubs that sell the Medallion packages and draw the biggest crowds for the Marvel tenants (as evidenced by the away attendances). Richmond, Hawthorn and Geelong also help with that too.

I tried to use chatGPT to get the data I wanted but it's flaky as buggery, but we are more likely to host Pies at the MCG than at Docklands, Dons host us more than the other way around and both are teams we rarely ever play twice in a season.

So youre upset the afl gave you a fixture that maximises attendances in melbourne (giving your fans bang for their buck)?

I'm not upset at all. Some were scoffing at our supposed easy draw and the fact that we don't leave Melbourne later in the season. That's balanced out by what I said. as for maximising attendances beyond Pies rnd 0 we don't host another Vic side until Tigers rnd 10 and only host 5 Vic sides all year.

nothing screams maximizing attendance like 3 blocks of double away games in the 1st 10 rounds

but it's on us to get more crowds to games, hopwfully we can draw more out this year

 

[Grasshopper17]

It would be beneficial for them but the TV networks won't want that with all the money they've paid for the rights. Would be reasonable to expect a mix of these clubs and a mix of the big clubs but the AFL don't have a reasonable bone in their bodies.

Yes it's the balancing act between short term payoff for the broadcasters and long term payoff for everyone (including the broadcasters, when literally any game can be shown in prime time and it will rate the house down, in all parts of the country).

And right now the scales are weighted overwhelmingly to the former.

Ironically a reduced TV rights deal (which seems likely if you listen to those who sniff the breeze on these things) might be the best thing for the game in shifting the balance on this front. It might give the AFL back some of its negotiating power when it comes to equality in the fixture.

 

[Grasshopper17]

I feel like they could put out a parameter kit of what it needs to do and people would submit better efforts for free (assuming they went of equality as the number 1 importance).

This is a brilliant suggestion. However it would require transparency from the VFL. And good luck with that.

 

[jwikked]

It really isn't that simple and I suggest you give it some more thought.

Do you think Collingwood should be doing a a 4 hour flight before all their home games?

Nah, a Perth team joins the AFL, what do you expect? It comes with the territory.

 

[Grasshopper17]

agree..
unwanted and unnecessary
another dumb move by the AFL

Friday night double headers or overlapping games are still a huge improvement on the multiple situations we had in 2025 where two games started at exactly the same time on Saturday or Sunday.

 

[Purple Suit]

The opening round bye has got to be one of the most ****ed up things the AFL have ever come up with. I hate it. Biggest load of BS ever!

Also, the following week (round one ) both SA teams are playing away. Not one game at AO. So ****ing stupid.

Same with round 1 in WA, no games. The AFL aren’t even trying to hide it anymore what they think of SA & WA.

 

[blueiris]

Same with round 1 in WA, no games. The AFL aren’t even trying to hide it anymore what they think of SA & WA.

Optus Oval isn’t available and you get an extra game in WA nothing worth complaining about

 

[VicBased]

Do you think Collingwood should be doing a a 4 hour flight before all their home games?

Nah, a Perth team joins the AFL, what do you expect? It comes with the territory.

Undeserving of an answer.

 

[Grasshopper17]

There should be zero contracts in the league that dictate away games.

They have certainly never bothered adhering to the agreement which stipulates that the merged Brisbane Lions entity must play 6 matches in Melbourne every season

 

[Grasshopper17]

I was just asking how you would fix it, we hear all the time it is an issue what is the solution?

While the MCG is contracted to host the Grand Final, with no other venue given any opportunity to host it, regardless of X team potentially earning the right to host it like in the AFLW, EVERY club should be fixtured to play 3 AWAY games there.

So that's 54 games at the MCG. Collingwood, Melbourne, Richmond get their 10 each, Hawthorn has their 7, ideally increasing back to 10 when Tasmania comes into the comp, Essendon and Carlton can play 3-4 each as they have stated they want to, Geelong a couple. Throw in teams like St Kilda and maybe North or the Bulldogs playing a home game there and you're pretty close to 54. I know even the Giants have talked about hosting a game at the MCG . Although they may have been trolling - they're incredibly good at blurring that line.

So they're your home teams. Then all 18 teams are the away team on 3 occasions. It's not right that a team can come to the MCG for a cutthroat final (or the Grand Final itself) and maybe they've only played there once since, say, Round 6 LAST SEASON.

Look how bad we were at winning there for years and years and years. Laughably so. The only way we actually became any good there was actually playing there regularly, more than the 2 games at most a year the AFL ever-so-generously gave us. It's an incredible, magnificent venue, but also a unique one, and the last thing the AFL wants if a team crapping its pants on the biggest stage because they've hardly played there.

 

[Grasshopper17]

Whether we win, lose or draw people watch. Just the reality of the situation

Only giving Brisbane 3 matches is absolutely bizarre though.

To be honest I'm probably one of the few Lions fans who don't actually mind it. Sure the disrespect is probably real, with the lack of prime time games along with the sojourns to Bellerive and the Barossa.

But from a selfish perspective, as someone who tries to get to all games (home and away) while maintaining a pretty tight budget it means all mostly day trips. Swans game I'll probably need to book a room, Gather Round I booked months ago and Hobart is my old stomping ground so I'll probably spend the whole weekend there.

But for the rest it'll probably be fly-in-fly-out the same day, so no $$$ for a room. The uber $ for the early morning flights when the trains don't run to Brisbane airport will be a bit ugly, and catching the last flight after the Demons game finishes circa 6pm might get a frac hectic.

But overall I think it's a win and not having to burn many annual leave days on Thursdays, Fridays or Mondays is a plus as well.

 

[Grasshopper17]

There’s a few Marvel Stadium Saturday double headers in the schedule. I think it’s just a coincidence that three of the same teams are in both double headers.

Round 3
St Kilda v Brisbane - 12:35
Essendon v North Melbourne - 7:35

Round 8
Essendon v Brisbane - 12:35
Carlton v St Kilda - 7:35

Not really sure why they do this. Can’t imagine people go to both games on the same day, given how spread out they are. Not even sure if they sell some sort of double game ticket deal.

On the same day as the Round 8 game the Broncos play the Roosters in the NRL at the SFS at 7:30. I'm wondering about the logistics of being able to get to both. Anyone here ever done a game in Sydney and Melbourne on the same day?

 

[Purple Suit]

Optus Oval isn’t available and you get an extra game in WA nothing worth complaining about

I thought that too but the soccer game is on Tuesday, how is it not available the weekend before if it's available the weekend after?

The NFL are coming to the MCG during the semi final weekend.

 

[Grasshopper17]

None were forced to join, they chose to.

It would be accurate to say "none were forced to join" but to say they chose to is a rewrite of history. At least two were begged to join by head office and at least another two were invented at the behest of that same head office.

 

[Grasshopper17]

Because the league don't trust St Kilda fans to turn up.

I think everyone will be kicked out in between games anyway, and people will have to buy tickets for both games separately. I think that's why there is such a big gap rather than being 1:15 and 4:15 etc.

 

[Grasshopper17]

Only one team has 3 x 5 day breaks. And its not the back to back premiers. They only get one. And a mid level difficulty draw.

The AFL are angling for a Collingwood v Brisbane grand final.

Steady on. Only 2 thirds of the fixture has been scheduled so far. Still plenty of scope for the AFL to blow up the season of whoever they chose.

By the way they gave a non-Victorian team the maximum number of 5 day breaks allowed in both 2024 and 2025. All of them involved travel.

That team won the premiership.

Keep the faith!

 

[DazalenkoUBewty]

7:40pm is too late to start a game of footy, imo. 7:10 was generally our latest start time in SA.

Rd8 crows v Port 7:40pm fri
Rd9 Port v dogs 7:40pm fri
Rd10 suns v Port 7:40pm fri
Rd13 wc v Port 7:45pm sat

Every one of the games that Port play on a Friday night are late and they're double headers.
Pretty ordinary if you ask me.

 

[JasRulz63]

Only one team has 3 x 5 day breaks. And its not the back to back premiers. They only get one. And a mid level difficulty draw.

The AFL are angling for a Collingwood v Brisbane grand final.

Only one team that made the prelims got less than three double ups against the top 6. Collingwood (and Geelong) ended up with four...

 

[doppleganger]

Optus Oval isn’t available and you get an extra game in WA nothing worth complaining about

WA fans will always complain about anything.

A WA team travels further to play an away game v Sydney than Collingwood do, this is not just geography it is unfair according to WA wowsers.

They deserve some special advantage over all other clubs to address geography.

 

[jwikked]

WA fans will always complain about anything.

A WA team travels further to play an away game v Sydney than Collingwood do, this is not just geography it is unfair according to WA wowsers.

They deserve some special advantage over all other clubs to address geography.

Perhaps they should volunteer to relocate. Makes sense.

 

[doppleganger]

Perhaps they should volunteer to relocate. Makes sense.

Can't relocate as too many hours in the air required.

 

[hawkman]

Perhaps they should volunteer to relocate. Makes sense.

West Coast were the biggest whingers about a few weeks away during Covid

 

[damochandler]

Why do they put the fixture out first? Brisbane should be getting more prime time slots than anyone, the broncos play mostly Friday nights. If they want to get the northern market exposure, they should wait until the nrl brings out their fixture and then see what they can do with the northern teams home games.

Stop the bullshit bye rounds as well

 

[Dirty Bird]

The opening round bye has got to be one of the most ****ed up things the AFL have ever come up with. I hate it. Biggest load of BS ever!

Also, the following week (round one ) both SA teams are playing away. Not one game at AO. So ****ing stupid.

Was already booked out for events on the Thursday and Saturday of Rd 1 - Field wouldn't be safe to play on the Sunday.
Dont blame the AFL for that one - Blame Adelaide oval.