It’s long been speculated, but this week saw the official announcement.
AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan announced to the media that the 2015 season would be put back to start on the Easter weekend, with the first game on Thursday second April.
Only one bye will be held during the season, with the grand final to be held on Saturday third October.
The reason for delaying the season is the Cricket World Cup. One-day internationals to be played through February and March, finishing on Sunday 29th March. There are cricket matches on the MCG, SCG, Adelaide Oval, Gabba, Blundstone Arena and Startrack Oval – all grounds that will host AFL matches in 2015.
The AFL wish to avoid a clash. And that’s understandable.
They have a track record of co-operating with other sports. They moved the 2000 season forward a month to accommodate the Sydney Olympics. They avoided scheduling at the MCG before ANZAC Day in 2006 to accommodate the Commonwealth Games. They played Carlton versus Port Adelaide in an unpopular Sunday night timeslot last year to accommodate the Grand Prix.
And with their venues being contracted to cricket, they didn’t have much choice. Or did they?
They wouldn’t have been able to get on the MCG or SCG until Easter. But Adelaide Oval hosts its last game on the 20th March. It would have been available by the 28th. The Gabba and Bellerive even earlier.
Docklands, Metricon, Subiaco, Kardinia Park, Showgrounds, ANZ Stadium and York Park are not World Cup venues. They would have been available for the last weekend of March.
It wouldn’t have been hard to schedule a full round of games for the last weekend of March without the MCG and SCG. They scheduled Round 1 for this year without using any cricket venues.
Scheduling two rounds would have been tricky. But scheduling one round for the last weekend in March was certainly possible.
It could have been done. But the AFL chose not to.
Cutting the season down to one bye is curious. The Players Association lobbied long and hard for a second bye, which came in for 2014.
With the ever-rising injury toll, having two byes during the season enabled players to get much-needed recovery time. Cutting back to a single bye will inevitably see more big-name players sit out games, possibly avoiding interstate travel, in the name of recovery and injury rehab.
Why not have a second bye and push the grand final back to 10th October? It’s not like there’s ever any cricket on the MCG before November anyway.
For the AFL’s newest franchise, GWS Giants, the later start to the season is bad news.
The Giants play their home games at the Showgrounds, known as Spotless Stadium. But during Easter, the Showgrounds is home to Sydney’s Royal Easter Show. During this time, the arena has a dirt track around it, and is chopped up by horses, the grass is eaten by cows; and it takes about a month for it to recover to football-readiness.
By not starting the season until the Easter weekend, there’s no chance for the Giants to get on there before the Easter Show. Which means no home game until about Round 7.
There could be an away derby against the Swans during those rounds. And probably a couple of the Giants’ Canberra games would be played then.
But it’s a long wait until the Giants get a home game at their home ground. A ground which would have been available in March but isn’t in April.
Possibly the long wait could be averted by playing a stand-alone game the weekend before round 1, similar to what happened in 2012. But that’s unlikely.
The upside is avoiding a clash with the cricket. Downsides are the loss of a bye week and the GWS Giants scheduling. And there’s another downside.
In recent years, the start of the AFL season has crept earlier. Partly to accommodate the second bye. But also because the sporting media in March is usually dominated by the NRL and A-League.
Australia is a very crowded and competitive sport market. Until the AFL season starts, it struggles to get a look-in with media coverage. The NRL and A-League, playing on rectangular non-cricket venues, will have business as usual and will play on through the cricket in March.
To hold the AFL season back until April is a reversal of recent policy. Whether it’s a success is dependent on the success of the Cricket World Cup.
In recent years, we’ve seen fans gravitate to the domestic T20 Big Bash League – while Test cricket remains strong. But one-day internationals have struggled to draw a crowd.
While games involving Australia will draw plenty of interest, other games may struggle. I can’t see the Australian sporting public getting enthused about games like Pakistan v Zimbabwe.
That’s the AFL’s gamble.
If the Cricket World Cup captures the public’s imagination, if there’s a huge groundswell of interest, the AFL will have done well to avoid it.
But if there’s little interest in the cricket by the end of the summer, then the AFL have handed a massive free kick to the NRL and the A-League.
Pope Paul vii
Guest
Collingwood Oktoberfest
slane
Guest
I'm sick of hearing how the players need a bye or more bye rounds or extra time off. If your players NEED a bye then you haven't managed them/your list well enough. Each team has 40 odd players on their list, use some of the players further back on your list in order to give the stars a rest. Soccer teams do it all the time!
Me Too
Guest
Couldn't care less about when and where they play as long as there's equity via the poorer clubs being awarded a COLA (Cost Of Low marketability Allowance).
mds1970
Roar Guru
It happens reasonably often that AFL & NRL grand finals are consecutive days. Known by Roy & HG fans as "The Festival of the Boot".
Epiquin
Roar Guru
Fair enough. I've also noticed that most Roarers demand stats and figures to support every statement, no matter how insignificant so you covered your bases well. Haha.
mds1970
Roar Guru
The win over the Swans in round 1 was better than expected. With the win over Melbourne, the Giants had a brief stint in the top 8 - we enjoyed that while it lasted..... And with Spotless out of action till about round 7, the Giants' first two home games will likely be in Canberra. It may make sense to play all 3 Canberra games during those early rounds and have a full-on blitz in Sydney later in the season.
John
Roar Rookie
24 hour turnaround to the NRL GF happens whenever October starts on Sunday or Monday. On average 2 out of 7 years. AFL GF - last Sat in September NRL GF - NSW Labour Day week-end. Labour Day is first Monday in October In 1996 AFL & NRL GF tickets went on sale at adjacent ticket offices in Driver Ave, Sydney at the same time, both games featuring red & white teams.
Avatar
Roar Guru
Either way, the Giants' first home game would most certainly have to be in Canberra. As to what team the Giants should host - it should be one that wouldn't be likely to draw a huge crowd in Sydney, such as the Adelaide Crows or Melbourne. On a side note, GWS playing Melbourne at home earlier this season was a perfect move by the fixture, as it allowed the Giants to get a win early on and avoid going through the first half of the season without a win, as was the case in 2013.
mds1970
Roar Guru
Suns v Giants at Metricon wouldn't be a bad season opener. Beautiful conditions early in the season - I'd make the trip up north for that. I wouldn't be particularly keen on the Giants playing at ANZ. The first round was there in 2012 & 2013; but at this stage our crowds don't justify playing there. I'd rather play the Swans at the Showgrounds (hopefully without the thunderstorm lol); but that can't happen in round 1.
Brian
Guest
I don't understand why they don't just play from April to October every year. The early March 30 degree days aren't good for AFL anyway & the cricket never starts until late November. The only issue with an October 10 GF would be for the Spring Racing Carnival but why would that be the AFL's problem. I don't see why a carnival of gambling and drinking should be protected
Avatar
Roar Guru
The Easter Show will severely disadvantage the Giants, who won't get access to their main home ground until around Round 7 at the earliest, as you said. But there's also the possibility that they could play their season-opening derby against the Swans at the nearby ANZ Stadium (as they did in 2013 when the opening round also coincided with the Easter Show), or assuming that the ground is available by Round 4 (ANZAC Day Round), play the Derby in that round (or maybe even on the day itself) instead. I proposed in an article that the Giants play the Suns on the Gold Coast in round one, and that itself should become a regular season-opening fixture between the AFL's two newest clubs. What's guaranteed is that Carlton will play Richmond in the season opener (April 2) and the Cats and Hawks resume their Easter Monday showdown (April 6).
Cat
Roar Guru
Was easier to copy and paste it than count and reformat.
Epiquin
Roar Guru
Haha love the research Gene, but a simple "This will be the 25th time it has happened" would have sufficed.
Paul D
Roar Guru
The cricket world cup hasn't been here for 22 years. I hardly think one year where the season gets delayed by a month is going to make everyone forget the AFL exists and rush off to watch NRL/A League for the rest of their lives as you seem to be chicken littling in your article. The AFL had a choice - they could schedule games in at the non-cricket venues as you propose, and suffer the perceived indignity of being the sideshow to the cricket world cup - and reveal their nervousness about NRL/A League in the process, I might add, since why else would they rush to start the season without access to their flagship grounds in Adelaide and Melbourne. Or, they could do what they've done, which is be confident in the success of their sport, and the attractiveness of the game, and reason that fans will happily wait a few weeks for the full season to start properly, once all venues are available. Besides, the pre-season cup will be happening prior to the regular season, so there will be some footy going on during the cricket, it just won't be the flagship product. I think the AFL got it absolutely spot on, personally. Good decision.
mds1970
Roar Guru
We got on there four days before the Show opened this year - GWS played Melbourne on 7th April, the Show opened on the 11th. But it's a fair point. A one-off game before the Show would have to be on the weekend of 21-22 March; two weeks before the rest of the comp starts. Probably too big a gap.
Cat
Roar Guru
Far from the first time: 1/10/1910 - South Melbourne 4.14 (38) d Carlton 4.12 (36) 11/10/1919 – Collingwood 11.12 (78) d Richmond 7.11 (53) 2/10/1920 – Richmond 7.10 (52) d Collingwood 5.5 (35) 15/10/1921 – Richmond 5.6 (36) d Carlton 4.8 (32) 14/10/1922 – Fitzroy 11.13 (79) d Collingwood 9.14 (68) 20/10/1923 – Essendon 8.15 (63) d Fitzroy 6.10 (46) 10/10/1925 – Geelong 10.19 (79) d Collingwood 9.15 (69) 9/10/1926 – Melbourne 17.17 (119) d Collingwood 9.8 (62) 1/10/1927 – Collingwood 2.13 (25) d Richmond 1.7 (13) 11/10/1930 – Collingwood 14.16 (100) d Geelong 9.16 (70) 10/10/1931 – Geelong 9.14 (68) d Richmond 7.6 (48) 1/10/1932 – Richmond 13.14 (92) d Carlton 12.11 (83) 13/10/1934 – Richmond 19.14 (128) d South Melbourne 12.17 (89) 5/10/1935 – Collingwood 11.12 (78) d South Melbourne 7.16 (58) 3/10/1936 – Collingwood 11.23 (89) d South Melbourne 10.18 (78) 5/10/1946 – Essendon 22.18 (150) d Melbourne 13.9 (87) 2/10/1948 – Melbourne 10.9 (69) drew with Essendon 7.27 (69) 9/10/1948 –Melbourne 13.11 (89) d Essendon 7.8 (50) 5/10/1963 – Geelong 15.19 (109) d Hawthorn 8.12 (60) 7/10/1972 – Carlton 28.9 (177) d Richmond 22.18 (150) 1/10/1977 – North Melbourne 21.25 (151) d Collingwood 19.10 (124) 6/10/1990 – Collingwood 13.11 (89) d Essendon 5.11 (41) 1/10/1994 – West Coast 20.23 (143) d Geelong 8.15 (63) 2/10/2010 – Collingwood 16.12 (108) d St Kilda 7.10 (52) 1/10/2011 – Geelong 18.11 (119) d Collingwood 12.9 (81)
Pope Paul VII
Guest
Love October GFs. NSW Long weekend, a bye in the cricket. Bliss.
mds1970
Roar Guru
It's happened before. 2011 was the last time, 1994 before that. 2010 had a replay in October after the first grand final was a draw. The iconic "One Day in September" song by Mike Brady doesn't always ring true; although it's in September more often than not. The NRL Grand Final being on the same weekend isn't really an issue. That's happened plenty of times before - but they're not played at the same ground, or even in the same city.
Epiquin
Roar Guru
I'm surprised people aren't upset about the Grand Final getting moved back. A whole season without being able to say "The last Saturday in September." It also means only a 24 hour turnaround before the NRL GF
John
Roar Rookie
FYI the Easter show starts on March 26th in 2015 and the whole area gets closed off well before that. Any Giants game there would have to be mid-March at the latest.