WILD ABOUT DRAW
Plans laid for AFL return
THE AFL would consider a wildcard finals series and even a best-of-three grand final series but only in the event of a rapidly improving scenario that sees football back within coming months.
AFL fixturing boss Travis Auld (pictured) has moved from helping the league get its finances under control to now attempting to put together various fixturing models for the rest of the season.
The AFL is set to meet with the AFLPA to get approval for four-day breaks, which will see teams travelling interstate and playing a pair of games within four days.
That will allow the league to jam
17 rounds worth of fixtures into a shorter period of time.
But wildcard weekends and a best-of-three grand final series add extra time to the fixture where the coronavirus pandemic might not allow sport to be played until August or September.
The league could even compress its fixtures early with no crowds across all days of the week then play a chunk of the fixtures as normal in FridaySunday to maximise crowds when they are able to return.
But the league’s determination is to play 17 rounds and four finals no matter what before thinking about adding weeks.
Auld said yesterday nothing was off the table but everything depended on a return date for football.
A grand final series would be extremely unlikely given the break with tradition but still hasn’t been ruled out due to the revenue boost it would bring.
“We are (open to wildcard weekend) except it’s going to add length to the season,” Auld said.
“If we have got the time maybe but things would have to change really quickly for us to be in a position where we have spare time. If we had kept going from Round 1 we would have had spare time but every week that goes by you lose that space.
“Getting 17 rounds away in a shortened period of time and then four weeks of finals is now our base.”
In a crammed fixture, Victorian teams will travel interstate and play both teams in a state – potentially on a Saturday, then Wednesday – and non-Victorian team will travel to Melbourne to return the favour.
It will cut down on travel and with fans not at grounds all games will effectively be played at neutral venues.
It will depend upon teams playing off four-day breaks, and Auld is confident the players and AFL can reach agreement.
“We went to the AFLPA on five-day breaks and for the next phase we have said: ‘Let’s sit down and have a chat with what that looks like with shortened breaks’,” Auld added.