Clubs’ flak delays fixture
THE AFL has been forced to delay the release of next year’s fixture after clubs raised concerns over scheduling.
The highly-anticipated draw was due to be revealed this morning, but has now been pushed back to midday tomorrow.
But in a major move, the AFL will schedule two games on Good Friday next year, on April 19.
News Corp can reveal the league has gone all in on the contentious religious holiday, with North Melbourne’s Good Friday opponent Essendon handed a third massive marquee clash for the season.
The Bombers will take on North Melbourne at 4.20pm on Good Friday at Marvel Stadium, followed by West Coast’s contest against Port Adelaide at 8.10pm Melbourne time.
The clubs — handed the fixture only yesterday — requested significant changes to the draw, prompting the 24hour delay.
But when it drops it will be a broadcaster-friendly fixture with up to a dozen Thursday night games and a Sunday night experiment early in the year.
The clubs were on Monday sent a summary of their 2019 fixture, briefing them on the positives and negatives of their schedule.
It’s understood the number of interstate trips, short breaks, who they play twice and how many Thursday and Friday night games they get are highlighted in the document.
But some clubs were unhappy their requests were not met, prompting them to seek late adjustments to the 23round season and causing a ripple effect on the rest of the draw.
The AFL last night said it was locking in some of the finer details before releasing the full fixture.
While there is always some last-minute haggling between clubs and the league over specifics of the fixture, the league has this year been forced to ask for more time.
The compiling of next year’s draw has been complicated by the introduction of at least one five-day break for all teams and a spree of Thursday night games. The five-day breaks allow the league to schedule teams to play on a Friday night when they have played the previous Sunday.
Geelong and Collingwood will feature in a Round 1 blockbuster on the first Friday night of the season.
The AFL will also dabble with Sunday night football early in the 2019 season.
Early in the year when Melbourne is still in daylight savings the league will schedule a West Australian team against a Victorian team in a Sunday 3.40pm Perth game.
It will mean a 6.40pm starting time in Victoria, and will allow Fox Footy to assess the ratings of a game that would finish at about 9.20pm on Sunday night.
The league scheduled a dis- astrous Carlton-Collingwood clash on a Sunday night in 2014, drawing just 40,921 fans and then quickly abandoned Sunday night games as a concept.
A series of five-day breaks handed to clubs — approved by the AFLPA and requiring changes to the collective bargaining committee — will allow the league unprecedented fixture flexibility.
It means the league can not only play more Thursday night games but also supercharge Friday nights by at times playing a big club in a Sunday game then scheduling them the next Friday night.