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Gillon's got it backwards, the AFL needs a 5-17 fixture

17th May, 2015
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17th May, 2015
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Over the last couple of weeks there has been quite a bit of fuss around making the AFL fixture more equal.

AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan proposed the idea of a 17-5 fixture which would see each team play each other once before being split into three bands for the final five games of the season.

>> Read Michael DiFabrizio’s view on the proposed fixture change

Teams that finish 1-6 would play for positions in the finals, 7-12 would play off for the remaining finals spots, and 13-18 would play for draft picks.

However, several problems were quickly highlighted by this plan. The top six would pretty much play finals before the finals, devaluing the real thing.

There would be scheduling problems for stadiums and fans when nothing is locked in leading into the backend of the season, and the worst teams would likely have to watch the best draft picks being taken by the clubs in 13th and 14th position every year.

One way around many of these problems, and one I have not seen put forward by the media, is a 5-17 fixture. The fixture would have the same equality benefits as McLachlan’s, but without many of the problems.

Clubs would be placed in one of the three bands based on their positions in the previous year. Positions 1-6 would provide blockbusters to start the year, and everyone could quickly see where they fit into the finals calculations for the new season, positions 7-12 would play to try and get ahead of their similarly placed opposition for spots in the eight and 13-18 would play to try and get back into finals calculations.

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This would fix scheduling problems as everything could be done knowing who was in each bracket. The worst clubs would still get the best young players and the best teams would start the year with a bang rather than devaluing the finals series.

Obviously there are still issues, as there is in any proposed idea, but I believe that it is still better than McLachlan’s 17-5 model.

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