AFL clubs reject 17-5 fixture model

The AFL’s 18 clubs have overwhelmingly rejected the main proposal for a new fixture.

League chief executive Gillon McLachlan said there was too much uncertainty around the 17-5 model and clubs liked the current setup.

The fixture was one of the main topics at Thursday’s meeting of the league and the 18 club chief executives.

Several fixturing ideas were discussed, but the 17-5 idea was the main one.

Under that proposal, clubs would play each other once – 17 rounds – and then split into three conferences of six for the last five games before the finals.

“Maybe it was a bad day to be presenting it,” McLachlan said.

“Everyone thinks the season is going really well … everyone feels the current fixture is working pretty well.

“We came away with some strong feedback … the clubs really like the certainty in the current fixture.”

McLachlan said clubs are worried that showcase games like Showdowns and Western Derbies might not happen twice a year under the 17-5 idea.

It would create headaches for membership and planning for team travel.

“They like the 11-game membership package (and) they like the certainty of knowing all 22 rounds,” McLachlan said..

“They like the certainty of being able to plan their travel.

“Logistical and commercial challenges, quite rightly, those are the real issues of our clubs.”

He added there was “zero” chance of any major changes to the fixture structure next season.

“We think it’s a good (alternative) that deals with some of the challenges of the current fixture,” McLachlan said.

“But it obviously raises different challenges and that was the feedback today.”

Despite Thursday’s setback, McLachlan remains a fan of the 17-5 idea.

“I like … that every club plays each other once,” he said.

“Then you break out into very contested brackets of six and you’d have tight games – every game would mean something.

“You could actually really have a progression from home and away into playoffs into finals, that sorts the wheat from the chaff in a pretty contested way.”

Meanwhile, McLachlan said the league was on the verge of announcing the results of a review of the pre-draft bidding system for father-son and academy players.