The AFL’s radical fixture plan will kick-off tonight when the Western Bulldogs face the reigning premiers Richmond at Metricon Stadium at 7:10pm AEST.
It is a football fans’ dream which will see 33 games played across 20 days – a move which had been made due to the unpredictability of COVID-19.
It’ll be the first time an NBA-style fixture will be seen in Australian sport.
AFL’s football operations manager Steve Hocking told AFL.com.au that he is excited to see how the new-look fixture will pan out.
“We’ll play 33 games in 20 days. How clubs and players embrace that is going to be exceptionally compelling viewing,” Hocking said.
“We’ve certainly seen this in the NBA, but we haven’t seen this in our great game.”
Hocking says one exciting aspect of the new format is a lot of player rotations, meaning exposure to new faces.
“The other part will be the recovery-and-play model. We haven’t seen that at all, at any stage, in the AFL. Seeing how that plays out…you’ll have teams that will just be living in a recovery model, then having a captain’s run and playing.”
Games are set to be held in Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland and even Tasmania if the Government approves.
Some teams face four-day breaks, while the teams based in Perth (Hawthorn, Carlton, Sydney, GWS, Fremantle and West Coast) will have a bye during the four-round block.
Brisbane, Collingwood, Geelong, Melbourne and North Melbourne face two four-day breaks, while Adelaide, Essendon, Gold Coast, Port Adelaide, Richmond and St Kilda have one.
While the short breaks may be tough for the players and coaches, it is a huge win for broadcasters and the fans who will have something to look forward to every night.
Channel 7 will kick-off tonight’s game and will broadcast their regular Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday time-slots while Fox Footy will broadcast on Mondays (3 games), Tuesdays (2 games) and the second and third of the three Wednesdays, in addition to their regular slots.
This is how the 20 days will pan out:
Hawthorn and Carlton have relocated to Perth to join West Coast and Fremantle who will all spend their 20 days playing three games against each other with one bye.
Collingwood and Geelong will remain in Perth until the end of round 9 until they join the Queensland hub in round 10.
All other Victorian teams will be based in Queensland with Richmond, Melbourne, Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs to travel to Adelaide during the 20 day period.
North Melbourne will have to look elsewhere for its round 11 clash against Melbourne with the Tasmanian government deciding to keep restrictions on travel between Queensland, NSW and Victoria in place.
This will mean that the game will most likely be played in Queensland with the only other game scheduled that day played in Perth.
There is still hope that North Melbourne will play their round 12 clash against Brisbane in Tasmania with restrictions likely to be eased on August 14.
Below is the 33 game fixture:
ROUND 9
Wednesday July 29
Western Bulldogs vs Richmond (Metricon Stadium), 7pm
Thursday July 30
Melbourne vs Port Adelaide (Gabba), 7pm
Friday July 31
Carlton vs Hawthorn (Optus Stadium), 5:30pm
Essendon vs Brisbane Lions (Metricon Stadium), 8pm
Saturday August 1
North Melbourne vs Adelaide Crows (Metricon Stadium), 2:30pm
St Kilda vs Sydney Swans (Gabba), 5pm
West Coast Eagles vs Geelong Cats (Optus Stadium), 8pm
Sunday August 2
Gold Coast Suns vs GWS Giants (Metricon Stadium), 3:30pm
Fremantle vs Collingwood (Optus Stadium), 6pm
ROUND 10
Monday August 3
Port Adelaide vs Western Bulldogs (Adelaide Oval), 7pm
Tuesday August 4
Richmond vs Brisbane Lions (Metricon Stadium), 7pm
Wednesday August 5
Geelong Cats vs North Melbourne (Gabba), 5:30pm
Adelaide Crows vs Melbourne (Adelaide Oval), 8pm
Thursday August 6
Collingwood vs Sydney Swans (Gabba), 5:30pm
Gold Coast Suns vs St Kilda (Metricon Stadium), 8pm
Friday August 7
Essendon vs GWS Giants (Metricon Stadium), 7pm
BYES: Fremantle, West Coast Eagles, Hawthorn, Carlton
ROUND 11
Saturday August 8
Port Adelaide vs Richmond (Adelaide Oval), 4:30pm
Brisbane Lions vs Western Bulldogs (Gabba), 7:30pm
Sunday August 9
West Coast Eagles vs Carlton (Optus Stadium), 3pm
North Melbourne vs Melbourne (location TBC), 6pm
Monday August 10
Geelong Cats vs St Kilda (Gabba), 6pm
Fremantle vs Hawthorn (Optus Stadium), 8:30pm
Tuesday August 11
Adelaide Crows vs Collingwood (Adelaide Oval), 7pm
Wednesday August 12
Gold Coast Suns vs Essendon (Metricon Stadium), 7pm
BYES: GWS Giants, Sydney Swans
ROUND 12
Thursday August 13
Sydney Swans vs GWS Giants (Optus Stadium), 7:30pm
Friday August 14
Geelong Cats vs Port Adelaide (Gabba), 7pm
Saturday August 15
North Melbourne vs Brisbane Lions (location TBC), 2:30pm
Melbourne vs Collingwood (Gabba), 5pm
Fremantle vs Carlton (Optus Stadium), 8pm
Sunday August 16
Western Bulldogs vs Adelaide Crows (Metricon Stadium), 1pm
St Kilda vs Essendon (Gabba), 3:30pm
West Coast Eagles vs Hawthorn (Optus Stadium), 6pm
Monday August 17
Richmond vs Gold Coast Suns (Gabba), 7pm
Photo: Gold Coast Suns Crowd by Michael Coghlan available here and used under a Creative Commons Attribution. The image has not been modified.
