The Bye Week(s)

[Gavin Excell]

Nil chance there being a week with no football
TV money is just far too great a figure forgone

 

[Hoops]

Should have had the bye weeks during the women's soccer world cup.

 

[Purple Suit]

Do they even need a bye anymore with WC in the comp? They should be able to scrap it for 2-3 seasons at least.

 

[Rustica]

Just have a bye in 1 weekend. Get the mid season draft done. Then off we go again

 

[flamethrower]

The AFL are highly unlikely to have a full weekend off, so the next best arrangement would be to have 1 round split over 2 weekends.

Have one weekend with 5 games over the Kings Birthday weekend - Friday night, Saturday twilight, Saturday night, Sunday night and Monday afternoon.

The next weekend has 4 games - Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday afternoon.

To reduce travel around the bye weeks the AFL could also schedule the Perth derby, Adelaide showdown, Q Clash and Battle of the Bridge the 1st weekend.

Example:

Kings Birthday Weekend:
Friday night: Adelaide v Port Adelaide
Saturday twilight: Brisbane Lions v Gold Coast Suns
Saturday night: West Coast Eagles v Fremantle Dockers
Sunday night: Essendon v Carlton
Monday: Melbourne v Collingwood

Week 2:
Thursday night: GWS v Sydney Swans
Friday Night: St Kilda v Richmond
Saturday Night: Bulldogs v Geelong
Sunday afternoon: North Melbourne v Hawthorn

Splitting the games like this also gives Marvel Stadium all of the Kings Birthday weekend off to rest the surface or more likely schedule other events knowing the AFL. The MCG gets the following weekend off to rest the surface as well.

The next round have teams from week 1 play each other, and teams from week 2 play each other to eliminate any advantages around days off.

 

[Rusty Brookes]

An idea I saw posted on another thread was scrap the bye but each player has to miss at least one game per season would make for interesting player management

There we go. A solution that gives them a week off while the game continues on.

What would be the argument against this approach?

 

[The Gulden Child]

My interest in footy is at an all time low during bye weeks. I can't explain it. Make it shorter. Last Sunday no free to air game. Boo.

 

[Osho]

Like a nasty boil on the bottom, lance it, quick and clean, over the shortest time. I'd prefer 1 week no footy to several of mediocre quality and quantity.

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

Don’t mind what Brad Scott just said, elevate state leagues for a weekend.

You could make a thing of it. Get cameras and commentators out to suburban grounds and get people out to these games like a mini festival. Raise money for clubs etc.

The only issue is the state leagues (especially the VFL, which has been bastardised to the point of barely being a competition) are largely seen as AFL Reserves anyway.
But a few Saturday afternoons with no AFL and a focus deliberately put on state and local footy wouldn't be a bad thing.

 

[largebus]

I had a quick look at afl tables and last year teams off the bye were 3-5 against teams who played the week before, 4-6 in 2021 but 9-5 in 2019. 2020 had byes scattered everywhere so doesn't count.

So 16-16 over those 3 years. I don't know what it looks like further back but teams playing this bad after a bye seems to be a one off.

 

[naysayer]

I had a quick look at afl tables and last year teams off the bye were 3-5 against teams who played the week before, 4-6 in 2021 but 9-5 in 2019. 2020 had byes scattered everywhere so doesn't count.

So 16-16 over those 3 years. I don't know what it looks like further back but teams playing this bad after a bye seems to be a one off.

I'm in a slightly different camp. The bye losses are a concern, yes, but what I dislike is the amount of flat footy that we see. Uncharacteristic poor performances from the likes of Freo, and Gold Coast coming off the bye AND playing a non-bye team at home. Essendon, Hawks and Saints just didn't fire a shot. I'd just like to see the bye rounds take place over 1-2 weeks rather than stretch it out for one month of sub-standard football.

 

[Oscarman]

Not much will change, especially not giving HQ favoured teams another leg up during the byes. Not called a fixture for no reason.