Fixture 2026 Fixture

[Steve Dore]

Extra high profile home game plus gate receipts. Will they care?

It was a rhetorical question. The AFL has always put revenue ahead of competition integrity.

 

[raptalia]

Having a ridiculous wildcard weekend just screams of a shotgun approach to a couple Vic clubs missing finals the last couple years by the narrowest of margins and finding a way to squeeze them back in.

If you can’t make the finals in 23 games then you don’t deserve it. Simple.

As ABBA once sang Money, Money, Money. The AFL sees money, money, money in the guise of a couple of extra finals.

 

[Ported]

Need to move to a 17 round H&A with an extended playoff/finals series, but i don't actually think a top 10 is any worse than what we have currently.

 

[rumoursofwinter]

Wildcard would be more fun. Imagine if the bottom team won the flag. That would be wild.

I hate round zero. What the frig is the point of 5 games? 4 games was beyond stupid; now they can't even say its because they want 4 games. Its just pointless bonkers for the **** of it.

 

[Willsy10]

If you want to win a flag you should be aiming for top 6 minimum, top 4 or 2 ideally. 7th or 8th you are just making up the numbers anyway, unless you get one of the biggest arm chair rides from the umps the game has ever seen in one of the most even top 8’s like the dogs in 2016.

It should be extremely hard to win it from 7th or 8th.

 

[Schulzenfest]

There's nothing wild about it. It's just 9th and 10th
It's not a wildcard round ffs

Don't give them ideas, they'll just give Essendon or something an automatic wild card entry every year if they think about it too hard.

 

[crafty_bernardo]

And Essendon will still lose the game. Good for lols

 

[Sewer de Lance]

I hated the pre finals Bye round, but not sure the teams finishing 7th & 8th each year will be big fans of this new format.

It would almost be an impossible task to win 5 Finals in a row, but the WC round might be advantageous for teams who have battled significant injuries throughout the first half of the season.

At the end of the day, it’s a commercial decision that will add a few more zeros to the AFL bank account.

 

[240volt]

AFL desperately trying to get Essendon and Carlton involved in finals.

 

[Portwrld]

For years I thought Wild Card was a tennis thing and I reckon Goran Ivanisevic is the ultimate definition of a Wild Card.

In 2001 Wimbledon gave him a Wild Card - the 4 grand slam events give out 8 wild cards, between 8-16 qualifying spots from pre qualifying tournaments, and between 1 -6 lucky losers spots - usually due to late withdrawals from the tournament.

Goran had a injured shoulder for a big chunk of the points ranking, a rolling 12 months ie late 2000 and early 2001 and his ranking fell to 125. Because he had lost 3 times in the final at Wimbledon, they gave him a Wild Card and he ended up winning it, beating Pat Rafter in 5 sets.

Kim Clijsters retired in 2007 to have kids, but came back and got a Wild Card for USA Open in 2009 and won it beating Caroline Wozniacki in the final.

They do it in golf, but not for the Masters, and I don't reckon any Wild Card has ever won a major like in tennis. I reckon Tiger Woods has been granted a Wild Card or two, but when he won the Masters in 2019, his ranking was pretty high.

For team sports they call it a wildcard. It was introduced in NFL in 1970 after the merger with AFL. In 1969 the NFL had 2 conference and 2 divisions within a conference. They had 16 teams and the 2 divisional winners within a conference played to be conference champions, so effectively a final 4 from 16 teams.

In 1970 the NFL merged with the AFL and the comp went from 16 teams to 26 teams and had 2 new conferences NFC and AFC. 3 of the old NFL teams joined the AFC and they went from 2 divisions to 3 divisions which meant they needed to introduce wildcards for the best 2nd placed team in the 3 division x 2 conferences.

That meant 8 teams out of 26 qualified for finals. Had 2 semis per conference and then conference championship and then the Super Bowl. All pretty reasonable stuff IMO.

Once they go to 28 and 30 teams it expanded to 6 teams per conference so finals were for 12 out of 28/30 teams. Now its top 14 of 32 teams that get to play finals. Some times the best 2 teams for the year or best and 3rd best team of the year out of 32 sit inside the same division in one of the conferences.

Wimbledon introduced Wild Cards in 1977 and the other 3 grand slam events followed over the next 8 years, with all 4 tournaments having Wild Cards by 1985.

The NHL didn't call them wildcards pre merger with the WHL in 1979, but they had 2 conferences of 9 teams and 2 divisions in each conference after the 1967 expansion and had 12 teams qualify out of 18 after an 80 game season and effectively had wildcards. The top 4 teams had the bye and the other 8 teams faced off against each other to qualify for the quarter final rounds.,

After the merger they had 21 teams and the finals were 16 teams, so it was 4 divisional semi finals per conference x 2 conferences, then divisional finals, then conference finals, then Stanley Cup.

Up until the end of 1993, MLB had 2 Leagues, 2 divisions per league so you had the divisional winners play off for the League pennant and then the World Series, so 4 out of 28 teams played in finals.

In 1994 they introduced 3 divisions and a wildcard but the players went on strike and the season was cancelled around 2/3rds of the way into the season and no finals. 1995 was their first year of wildcards in the finals and 3 divisions per league not 2 and now 8 out of 28 teams played in the finals.

The NBA has chopped and changed so many times I wont try and explain their changes. But they effectively introduced a wildcard in their 1974-75 season when they went from 8 teams out 17 in 2 conferences and 2 divisions per conference made finals in 1973-74, to 10 teams out of 17 teams made the finals.

So wildcards isn't so much an American thing as a cash grab thing. The yanks have a reason for doing it, given their conferences and divisions to try and get more teams to play finals. But its also a cash grab thing. We don't have conference and divisions to justify it like the yanks do.

Its just such a farken dumb name. Goran Ivanisevic was such a wild player, that Wild Card suits him IMO.

It really should be called the Cash Grab - Bugger All Chance For a Flag finals. No one is going to win a flag from 9th or 10th and have to win 5 games in September, unless you have a ridiculous season say where minor premier wins only 14 games of 23 games and 10th wins 12 games, and 10th probably had a shit load of players injured the first half of the year.

That's what happened in 2016, after 21 games 4 teams had won 16 games and 3 teams had won 15. In the last round the Bulldogs (7th) could have finished 4th if the right results happened. Half time of their game against WCE (6th) at Subiaco, the last minor round game of the season, they found out they couldn't finish 4th, they had a couple of bad injuries, they put the queue in the rack and took full advantage of the first ever bye before finals and stole the flag.

The 4 North American leagues with wildcards and how many teams qualify for finals;

MLB 12 teams of 30 play in the finals after a 162 game season
NFL 14 teams of 32 play in the finals after a 17 game season
NHL 16 teams of 32 play in the finals after a 82 game season
NBA 20 teams of 30 play in the finals after a 82 game season

If memory serves me right, I think this idea of implementing the new wildcard is based on Eddie McGuire going to the US during the last couple of years due to his son Joe, who plays college football at Ohio State, and due to Eddie been in the states he loves the idea of Wildcard Weekend. He has been trying to implement it into the AFL for a couple of years now however the AFL have only gone down to the lighter path compared to his idea of 6 week 21-match finals series, I remember him discussing this on Footy Classified this year.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

If memory serves me right, I think this idea of implementing the new wildcard is based on Eddie McGuire going to the US during the last couple of years due to his son Joe, who plays college football at Ohio State, and due to Eddie been in the states he loves the idea of Wildcard Weekend. He has been trying to implement it into the AFL for a couple of years now however the AFL have only gone down to the lighter path compared to his idea of 6 week 21-match finals series, I remember him discussing this on Footy Classified this year.

Craig Hutchinson has been banging on about it for about 8 years - on Footy Classified, SEN - his podcast with Damo, Agenda Setters etc.

Here you go, from July 2018 he proposed it on his Sounding Board podcast with Damo and laid out how it would work. He says he had previously floated it on Footy Classified.

Craig Hutchison proposes radical new AFL fixture concept

Media owner Craig Hutchison has proposed an interesting new take on the fixture that aims to be fairer and places a focus on Thursday Night Football.

archive.sen.com.au

 

[Portwrld]

Craig Hutchinson has been banging on about it for about 8 years - on Footy Classified, SEN - his podcast with Damo, Agenda Setters etc.

Here you go, from July 2018 he proposed it on his Sounding Board podcast with Damo and laid out how it would work. He says he had previously floated it on Footy Classified.

Craig Hutchison proposes radical new AFL fixture concept

Media owner Craig Hutchison has proposed an interesting new take on the fixture that aims to be fairer and places a focus on Thursday Night Football.

archive.sen.com.au

Aha there we go Hutcho idea, thanks for that.

 

[SC_Power]

This is one of the worst things about the wildcard round. A team could finish in seventh numerous wins ahead of tenth and then miss finals.

Is this the AFL's idea of competition integrity?

To be fair, Finals are never about competition integrity.
If the best team was to win it every season, you wouldn’t have finals, you’d award the flag to first past the post.

A team could finish in first, numerous wins ahead of 7th, and not win the flag.

 

[Doctor Feel]

AFL desperately trying to get Essendon and Carlton involved in finals.

Oh god. Essendon are going to play finals.

They probably wont win one though.

 

[Doctor Feel]

To be fair, Finals are never about competition integrity.
If the best team was to win it every season, you wouldn’t have finals, you’d award the flag to first past the post.

A team could finish in first, numerous wins ahead of 7th, and not win the flag.

Haha I can think of many many more things that point to finals being absolutely nothing to do with competition integrity.

 

[SC_Power]

If you want to win a flag you should be aiming for top 6 minimum, top 4 or 2 ideally. 7th or 8th you are just making up the numbers anyway, unless you get one of the biggest arm chair rides from the umps the game has ever seen in one of the most even top 8’s like the dogs in 2016.

It should be extremely hard to win it from 7th or 8th.

It certainly rules out non-Vic teams, who’s gonna win 5 in a row on the road from 10th?

A Vic team cruelled by injury early season and coming good near the end, could get a run where they maybe travel just once in 5 weeks.

 

[Pt Augusta Power]

Lucky Ken is done - a wild card game would have scared the **** out of him

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Tassie Tigers here we come.

From the Premier.

A fantastic chance for people to head along and watch four of Tassie’s finest, in Sam Banks, Rhyan Mansell, Seth Campbell and skipper Toby Nankervis

25

Toby Nankervis

Age

31

Ht

199cm

Wt

102kg

Pos.

Ruck

Career

Season

Last 5

D

14.2

4star

K

7.2

3star

HB

7.0

4star

CL

2.9

4star

HO

21.9

5star

D

12.0

3star

K

5.7

2star

HB

6.3

4star

CL

3.0

4star

HO

17.0

5star

D

7.8

2star

K

3.4

2star

HB

4.4

4star

CL

1.0

3star

HO

8.4

5star

.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

$1mil + and no home game at Docklands. Sweet deal.

Richmond complete plan to sell off 2026 home game

The Tigers are set to travel interstate for a home fixture next year and are likely to face an AFL powerhouse.

7news.com.au

Richmond are headed for Tasmania after landing a deal to relocate their Marvel Stadium home game to Hobart for 2026.

7NEWS understands the Tigers are set to face Brisbane at Hobart’s Ninja Stadium next season.

The Tigers are expected to maintain their 10 matches at the MCG with the additional Marvel Stadium match they have hosted in recent years to be moved to the Apple Isle.

It is a deal likely to span at least the next two seasons before the Tasmania Devils enter the AFL in 2028. The Tigers are tipped to net in the ballpark of $1million per season from the deal – a major uplift on the deal to play at Marvel Stadium

As revealed by 7NEWS in July, the Tasmanian Government had led the pursuit of the Tigers playing in Hobart to ensure AFL matches remain in the state’s capital before the Devils’ introduction.

North Melbourne previously played four games in Hobart until 2024 before it was phased to two matches in 2025 as the Kangaroos sold two matches to WA. The Roos will next season exit Tasmania completely, with two matches remaining across Perth and Bunbury and the additional two matches moving back to Marvel Stadium.
..........

 

[Amarula]

It certainly rules out non-Vic teams, who’s gonna win 5 in a row on the road from 10th?

A Vic team cruelled by injury early season and coming good near the end, could get a run where they maybe travel just once in 5 weeks.

I’m not denying your main point here, but it would have worked well for our AFLW team. We just missed out on finals by the width of one extraordinary umpiring decision. We had a hard draw early and took a few games to get our best going. Meanwhile, St Kildare and WCE fell into the finals almost by default, and were uncompetitive in their first final.

Our AFLW team really only got their game into gear in the last 3 games, with good wins against finalists in Hawks & Crows. On that form, we would have been competitive with all the teams up to and including Melbourne, we would give Lions a good run for their money, then get smashed by North like everyone else. But it would have been a fun ride, they kept calling us “the funnest team to watch” on Kayo etc.

 

[raptalia]

Need to move to a 17 round H&A with an extended playoff/finals series, but i don't actually think a top 10 is any worse than what we have currently.

if your side finished 7th and was knocked out by the side finishing 10th you might think differently. This year the Suns finished 7th with 15 wins and 124.89% while the Swans were 10th with 12 ins and 97%. In fact the Suns were only one win from finishing third and had they not lost to Port by 4 points they would have been third.

As has been posted by majority among us this is nothing more than a money making exercise and an opportunity to keep more Melbourne based clubs active come finals time.

On the TV news bulletin I watched last night the move was described as, 'the inclusion of two more blockbuster games'. That sounds like it comes straight from the AFL playbook.

 

[raptalia]

$1mil + and no home game at Docklands. Sweet deal.

Richmond complete plan to sell off 2026 home game

The Tigers are set to travel interstate for a home fixture next year and are likely to face an AFL powerhouse.

7news.com.au

Richmond are headed for Tasmania after landing a deal to relocate their Marvel Stadium home game to Hobart for 2026.

7NEWS understands the Tigers are set to face Brisbane at Hobart’s Ninja Stadium next season.

The Tigers are expected to maintain their 10 matches at the MCG with the additional Marvel Stadium match they have hosted in recent years to be moved to the Apple Isle.

It is a deal likely to span at least the next two seasons before the Tasmania Devils enter the AFL in 2028. The Tigers are tipped to net in the ballpark of $1million per season from the deal – a major uplift on the deal to play at Marvel Stadium

As revealed by 7NEWS in July, the Tasmanian Government had led the pursuit of the Tigers playing in Hobart to ensure AFL matches remain in the state’s capital before the Devils’ introduction.

North Melbourne previously played four games in Hobart until 2024 before it was phased to two matches in 2025 as the Kangaroos sold two matches to WA. The Roos will next season exit Tasmania completely, with two matches remaining across Perth and Bunbury and the additional two matches moving back to Marvel Stadium.
..........

So where do Hawthorn figure in all this? They run around with Tasmania plastered all over their guernsies. The North AFLW team had half of Tasmania as an allocated zone so I assume that arrangement remains. You wonder how many teams Tasmania want.

I imagine that once the Tasmanian team is admitted to the comp the arrangements will change? You would think that the new Tassie team would want the field all to themselves.

 

[chiwigi]

So where do Hawthorn figure in all this? They run around with Tasmania plastered all over their guernsies. The North AFLW team had half of Tasmania as an allocated zone so I assume that arrangement remains. You wonder how many teams Tasmania want.

I imagine that once the Tasmanian team is admitted to the comp the arrangements will change? You would think that the new Tassie team would want the field all to themselves.

And the only reason vic teams can do this is because they play half their away games at home as well.

Yet they complain about gather round. ****ers.

 

[Nelso]

Gotta love the AFL

Lets have a wildcard round while they can't even establish a national reserves competition which is a bigger priority.

 

[Coobk001]

Im supportive of the wildcard. I dont see the issue. The inequity of the draw could be the difference between 8-9-10, so that playoff would find the better team. It fills an empty hole in the calendar and doesn't hurt any of the top teams.

Also if anything youre putting more of a premium on the top 6, so its actually putting greater emphasis on being higher, not just participation awards.