Length of season

[Hallstrom]

17 round season for the Flag.
A separate comp for the Cup (seeded by 17 round season). Bottom four play-off in wild card weekend for final 2 spots in the Cup. Single elimination of remaining 16. ALL cup games played at top seeds home ground.

EDIT: Even better get rid of 2 teams and don't worry about wild cards.

 

[Eddie Van Halen]

This is all bullsh!t.
It will never be a truly fair competition until each team plays each other twice. Home and away.
How that could be pulled off or structured, I don't know, but it's the only way it will be a true and fair 'draw'.
It would require an earlier start, midweek games, etc. It would mean more games so more money generated by the league. Increase the salary cap and list sizes.
I don't know.
My 0.02.

 

[AG]

18 teams, 17 rounds with a bye week in the middle where no football is played. I'd rather add a wildcard round for the finals than play a random rivalry round. That way the draw is as fair as possible (unless all teams play each other twice (H&A) but that's unrealistic imo)

Weeks 1 to 9 - 1st half of H&A
Week 10 - Bye
Weeks 11 to 18 - 2nd half of H&A

Finals
Week 19 - Wild card round - 7th v 10th and 8th v 9th (top 6 get a week of rest)
Week 20 - Qualifying and Elimination Finals (Normal finals format but the winners of the wild card games play 5th and 6th in elimination finals)
Week 21 - Semi Final
Week 22 - Prelim Final
Week 23 - Grand Final

I'm happy to just remove the wild card round and stick to the current finals format but realistically if the season was to shrink the AFL would need to extend finals to justify retaining most of the revenue from media contracts.

Throw in pre season and it's still roughly half the year of football, so it's still a long season.

 

[Back One Out]

I support any proposal that puts an end to the Channel 7/Big Four monopoly of the AFL fixture

 

[Isaac Cumming No 1]

17 round season for the Flag.
A separate comp for the Cup (seeded by 17 round season). Bottom four play-off in wild card weekend for final 2 spots in the Cup. Single elimination of remaining 16. ALL cup games played at top seeds home ground.

EDIT: Even better get rid of 2 teams and don't worry about wild cards.

Which club will you jump to?

 

[Dazzler9]

I'd be down for 17 or 18 rounds H&A. Less is more.

I understand the financial imperatives which make this a pipedream. However, isn't the AFL a not-for-profit? They should be doing what's best for the game first and foremost, not what earns the biggest bucks (granted, more dollars can translate into the development/growth of the game).

 

[blitzer]

I don't think length of season is suddenly a big issue. Injuries occur every year and its just the way it is. I believe historically more injuries occur in the earlier parts of the season anyway. Naturally though more injuries become 'season ending' when they happen later in the season.
The week off before finals is a big help for the teams that make the finals though obviously it won't magically cure all injuries but in terms of ensuring quality players are available for finals it helps.

Talking about reducing the fixture by about 4 games isn't going to happen due to tv rights, its unrealistic.

 

[Hallstrom]

Which club will you jump to?

I'm in Canberra so GWS, but realistically even though Cartlon are s**t right now they wouldn't be getting cut.

 

[LordLucifer]

Increase the number of clubs to 22 and play a 21-week season with everyone playing each other once.

There is not goddam reason in the world to shorten the season and every nincompoop who has suggested doing so has absolutely no concept of business and/or commercial decisions.

 

[Isaac Cumming No 1]

I'm in Canberra so GWS, but realistically even though Cartlon are s**t right now they wouldn't be getting cut.

That's my point. When you talk about cutting clubs the devil is in the detail.

 

[MISFITS]

I would happily have a
longer season but;
shorter games.
Quarters of footy that go for only 20 minutes.(not 30 plus minutes)
The games are too long.
26 games to somehow get a closer parity to a fairer fixture.

 

[StevenwellerHFC]

Why can't it stay the same?

 

[LordLucifer]

18 teams, 17 rounds with a bye week in the middle where no football is played. I'd rather add a wildcard round for the finals than play a random rivalry round. That way the draw is as fair as possible (unless all teams play each other twice (H&A) but that's unrealistic imo)

Weeks 1 to 9 - 1st half of H&A
Week 10 - Bye
Weeks 11 to 18 - 2nd half of H&A

Finals
Week 19 - Wild card round - 7th v 10th and 8th v 9th (top 6 get a week of rest)
Week 20 - Qualifying and Elimination Finals (Normal finals format but the winners of the wild card games play 5th and 6th in elimination finals)
Week 21 - Semi Final
Week 22 - Prelim Final
Week 23 - Grand Final

I'm happy to just remove the wild card round and stick to the current finals format but realistically if the season was to shrink the AFL would need to extend finals to justify retaining most of the revenue from media contracts.

Throw in pre season and it's still roughly half the year of football, so it's still a long season.

Did you actually think about that proposal before you typed it ??

 

[AG]

Did you actually think about that proposal before you typed it ??

Possibly. Possibly not.

Depends what you say next

 

[LordLucifer]

Possibly. Possibly not.

Depends what you say next

Don't continue to be silly, I was hoping you were better than that.

 

[fomoco04]

The less weekends football is being played, the more weekends people are spending their hard earned watching something else.

 

[Hallstrom]

That's my point. When you talk about cutting clubs the devil is in the detail.

Agreed, Even though I'm Victorian born and bred I agree with interstaters that say there are too many teams in Melbourne. In my view the only way to reduce Vic teams (besides blowing up the whole thing and starting again) is to merge everyone. I'd leave Geelong as they are not in Melbourne and as Collingwood are the most universally hated by opposition clubs I'd leave them as well. As for the rest:
Essendon and Western Bulldogs
Carlton and North Melbourne
Richmond and Melbourne
Hawthorn and St Kilda

To bring it back up to 16 I'd put a team in Tassie and a 3rd WA side.

 

[Isaac Cumming No 1]

Agreed, Even though I'm Victorian born and bred I agree with interstaters that say there are too many teams in Melbourne. In my view the only way to reduce Vic teams (besides blowing up the whole thing and starting again) is to merge everyone. I'd leave Geelong as they are not in Melbourne and as Collingwood are the most universally hated by opposition clubs I'd leave them as well. As for the rest:
Essendon and Western Bulldogs
Carlton and North Melbourne
Richmond and Melbourne
Hawthorn and St Kilda

To bring it back up to 16 I'd put a team in Tassie and a 3rd WA side.

You might get a few responses I'm tipping.

 

[Randall Stevens]

By comparison with most professional sports around the world our season is actually short in terms of calendar duration and number of matches played.
Individual matches are longer than most sports for sure, but the argument that the season is 'too long' for players and fans doesn't really wash with me.

EPL plays 38 rounds, plus FA Cup, League Cup, European matches for teams which qualify and internationals for the best players. In a 38 round season, there are always plenty of Clubs which from early in the season are not in contention for the title or even European qualification, and are also at no risk of relegation.
Closer to home, NRL and A-League both play longer home and away seasons plus finals. Super rugby has less home and away rounds, but a long season of representative matches.
And American sports other than NFL play a huge number of games.
Elite cricketers have far more match days scheduled across three different formats, and are regularly on overseas tours for extended periods.

So I don't accept that AFL players are hard done by or over worked by comparison to other professional sports persons around the world or in Australia.

All of this might just be an attempted justification for selfishness, because I would love a longer season, not shorter!
I realise that won't happen, and that 22 games is a hangover from a 12 team competition when everyone played each other twice, but I would hate for the season to be reduced so think that keeping it at 22 is a fair compromise.

 

[Jackie_Moon]

The way it sits atm you wait 6 mths for the footy to start and with a bad start to the season you can be out of finals contention by Rd 8.
With a shorter season you would be gone by Rd 5-6.
Leave it the same.

 

[JPetro83]

As a footy lover I want more footy so forget making the season shorter! make it longer! Id have 1 internal trial and 1 trial against another AFL side in the pre season. Id start the Premiership season in early March. extend the season to 24 games.. have 26 Rounds to allow for 2 byes. Grand final on first weekend in October.. oh and scrap the pre finals bye.

 

[MISFITS]

By comparison with most professional sports around the world our season is actually short in terms of calendar duration and number of matches played.
Individual matches are longer than most sports for sure, but the argument that the season is 'too long' for players and fans doesn't really wash with me.

EPL plays 38 rounds, plus FA Cup, League Cup, European matches for teams which qualify and internationals for the best players. In a 38 round season, there are always plenty of Clubs which from early in the season are not in contention for the title or even European qualification, and are also at no risk of relegation.
Closer to home, NRL and A-League both play longer home and away seasons plus finals. Super rugby has less home and away rounds, but a long season of representative matches.
And American sports other than NFL play a huge number of games.
Elite cricketers have far more match days scheduled across three different formats, and are regularly on overseas tours for extended periods.

So I don't accept that AFL players are hard done by or over worked by comparison to other professional sports persons around the world or in Australia.

All of this might just be an attempted justification for selfishness, because I would love a longer season, not shorter!
I realise that won't happen, and that 22 games is a hangover from a 12 team competition when everyone played each other twice, but I would hate for the season to be reduced so think that keeping it at 22 is a fair compromise.

TV rights pay the players wages..
Let's see how these precious players cope with a shortened season and half the income.

Secondly and a great point is that NRL have a longer season.
NRL is a collision sport that has far more injuries than AFL..

I'll say it again.
I'm an advocate for shorter games.
Shorter games and a longer season.

 

[LordLucifer]

Agreed, Even though I'm Victorian born and bred I agree with interstaters that say there are too many teams in Melbourne. In my view the only way to reduce Vic teams (besides blowing up the whole thing and starting again) is to merge everyone. I'd leave Geelong as they are not in Melbourne and as Collingwood are the most universally hated by opposition clubs I'd leave them as well. As for the rest:
Essendon and Western Bulldogs
Carlton and North Melbourne
Richmond and Melbourne
Hawthorn and St Kilda

To bring it back up to 16 I'd put a team in Tassie and a 3rd WA side.

I have been an advocate for less teams in Melbourne for many years and agree with that aspect of your post. However, the mergers you have proposed are somewhat unworkable.

I see a relocation or two as a better option to rationalise the issue.

 

[bungwahl]

I love the length of games at the moment, don't see a need to make them shorter.

 

[Scotland]

A 17 game 'play everyone once' is arguably fairer than the 22 game shambles we have now but for all the talk in the world of looking after the players, the spectacle of the game etc. the AFL's #1 priority is still money. The $400m+ per year TV rights deal needs 207 games and two teams in WA, SA, Qld and NSW.

If the AFL is worried about injuries then just give the clubs bigger squads and a bigger salary cap. There were guys like Hayden Schloithe and Tim Kelly running around in the WAFL last year while AFL teams out of necessity or choice were fielding 18 and 19 year olds that aren't physically ready for AFL footy and often don't end up AFL standard anyway. Not many sports in the world use the premier grade of competition to do their player development.