There has been a lot of discussion surrounding changes to make the AFL fixture fairer. I have offered my opinion before, but never actually modelled anything out. Below are my fixtures for Rounds 19 to 23, assuming that every team has played each other once and had one bye to this stage.
Some of the perks of this fixture is that I have channelled the AFL with some of the design considerations.
Collingwood play in Victoria for all five of their games, hosting the two interstate teams, and playing as the away team North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium. Teams have also been rewarded with Friday night timeslots, with Hawthorn featuring three times, Essendon and Collingwood twice.
All the Showdown/derbies are maintained. The non-Victorian teams have balanced travel demands, especially in the last round. And the most important point, it is a fair fixture.
It’s designed to not have people saying “this team has a tough draw” or “this team is going to walk into the finals”. Teams were ranked based on last year’s end of season ladder, and split into groups.
If you were going to nit-pick, the clubs that arguably have the ‘harder’ draw are Essendon, Richmond and Adelaide. Their final two games feature at least one of the 2014 grand finalists, and all of their final two opponents featured in the 2014 finals.
Of clubs that were rated to feature in finals this year before the season started, Sydney and maybe Hawthorn have the ‘easier’ assignments – Sydney having a home game in final round, and Hawthorn playing almost exclusively at the MCG for final five rounds.
Without further ado…
Round 19
Friday Night – Collingwood versus Essendon
Saturday Day – Geelong versus Western Bulldogs
Saturday Day – Port Adelaide versus Melbourne
Saturday Twlight – West Coast versus Adelaide
Saturday Night – Carlton versus Hawthorn
Saturday Night – GWS versus Sydney
Sunday Early – North Melbourne versus Brisbane
Sunday Afternoon – Richmond versus Gold Coast
Sunday Twlight – St.Kilda versus Fremantle
Round 20
Friday Night – Hawthorn versus Geelong
Saturday Day – Richmond versus St.Kilda
Saturday Day – Collingwood versus GWS
Saturday Twlight – Sydney versus North Melbourne
Saturday Night – Essendon versus Carlton
Saturday Night – Fremantle versus Port Adelaide
Sunday Early – Western Bulldogs versus West Coast
Sunday Afternoon – Melbourne versus Adelaide
Sunday Twlight – Gold Coast versus Brisbane
Round 21
Friday Night – Hawthorn versus Sydney
Saturday Day – Collingwood versus Melbourne
Saturday Day – Brisbane versus Essendon
Saturday Twlight – Western Bulldogs versus Gold Coast
Saturday Night – Richmond versus Carlton
Saturday Night – Fremantle versus Geelong
Sunday Early – Adelaide versus St.Kilda
Sunday Afternoon – North Melbourne versus Port Adelaide
Sunday Twlight – GWS versus West Coast
Round 22
Friday Night – Essendon versus Hawthorn
Saturday Day – Richmond versus Sydney
Saturday Day – Gold Coast versus Geelong
Saturday Twlight – GWS versus Brisbane
Saturday Night – North Melbourne versus Collingwood
Saturday Night – Adelaide versus Port Adelaide
Sunday Early – Melbourne versus Carlton
Sunday Afternoon – St.Kilda versus Western Bulldogs
Sunday Twlight – Fremantle versus West Coast
Round 23
Friday Night – Collingwood versus Fremantle
Saturday Day – Sydney versus Adelaide
Saturday Day – West Coast versus North Melbourne
Saturday Twlight – Port Adelaide versus Gold Coast
Saturday Night – Hawthorn versus Richmond
Saturday Night – Carlton versus Western Bulldogs
Sunday Early – St.Kilda versus GWS
Sunday Afternoon – Geelong versus Essendon
Sunday Twlight – Brisbane versus Melborne
So what do you think Roarers? Should I apply for a job with the AFL drafting up their 2016 fixture? Or go back to making predictions about where teams are going to place throughout the season.
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