2026 Proposed Fixture Changes

[Straight Outta Crompton]

We tried to put one out in the 2010s, but the neighbours got jealous.

The smug look of Smart, probably didnt help.

I didn't say WHY it was so important for me to have one

 

[robboaustralia]

State of Origin before the season will be treated like a low effort, low intensity pre-season match. Pointless

They should have it the weekend prior to GF minus the players not playing in the GF. If players get injured, they have time to recover for next season. So the weekend before GF they should do SOO, Brownlow, etc.

 

[pjcrows]

Victorian corporates want a share of the money pool that SA got from taking a punt on Gather Round. That's the crux of this.

 

[1970crow]

Like they normally do, it will be completely ignored.

Should AFLW be considered when scheduling the men's comp?

 

[Samcro24]

Quite possibly for a year or 2, until the buy-in drops again.

The drop off in care factor from the early 90s to the late 90s was stark.

From memory more and more of the top players pulled out and it became pointless.

 

[George CantStandYa]

I don’t get the beef with any of this, so SOA won’t be what it was but it’s preseason and will still be decent games when we will be craving for footy. Who cares if it’s played? We are seeing players go down at training and internals.

Round zero gone.
First game showdown, no travelling and really even with a port home game there’s still a chance to get a ticket.
Later start means none of this train for 5 weeks then 3 weeks off bulk shit, preseason starts in the new years.
Finals and GF later in the season, better weather.
Pre final bye gone.
Gather Rd locked in.

Who cares about the motives, what’s the problem?

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Week one showdown is awful imo

How about they just do double up games in Queensland & Sydney in round 1 so they get the extra exposure.

Then everyone else just plays games as per normal.

 

[Jeffcrowe]

State of origin is dead

Why would the captain of the crows eg Jordan Dawson risk an injury if he was a bit tight in the hammy in March to play the Vics who would likely beat us by 10 goals while the umps cheat d their arses off at the mcg

It’s actually good that state of origin is dead as it means that club passion is alive and well and thriving

I’ve got more love for Jake Soligo than JHF so why would I want JHF to crunch Soligo ( if he was to eventually play for Vic ) and same goes for Sam Draper if he was in ruck , Why the fxxck would I want him to do well when he’s a w@nker Essendon bloke

It will be a half arsed thing , it’s different to rugby league where it’s just 2 states that play and hate each other , we have too many teams especially if they pick an allies

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

State of Origin before the season will be treated like a low effort, low intensity pre-season match. Pointless

How about the 10 non competing finals club players play in a Victoria v rest game on the week's break before finals.

 

[Jeffcrowe]

Bruise free footy.

Media will act like its the State of Origin from yesteryear but it will be just a glorified training session.

And the NRL will take the absolute piss out of it as a weak product compared to theirs

A cheap win for the NRL in the footy wars

 

[Samcro24]

How about the 10 non competing finals club players play in a Victoria v rest game on the week's break before finals.

Ugh..!

 

[Southerntakeover]

I don’t get the beef with any of this, so SOA won’t be what it was but it’s preseason and will still be decent games when we will be craving for footy. Who cares if it’s played? We are seeing players go down at training and internals.

Round zero gone.
First game showdown, no travelling and really even with a port home game there’s still a chance to get a ticket.
Later start means none of this train for 5 weeks then 3 weeks off bulk shit, preseason starts in the new years.
Finals and GF later in the season, better weather.
Pre final bye gone.
Gather Rd locked in.

Who cares about the motives, what’s the problem?

Genuinely think having time to settle into the season makes the Showdown better. Lets you get a read on the team first, and lets them build into form.

Round one is always exciting. Taking one of our genuine season highlights and diminishing it for reasons that are entirely unclear is bad imo.

A guaranteed week one showdown is an awful result for the state imo.

 

[spenze]

How about the 10 non competing finals club players play in a Victoria v rest game on the week's break before finals.

As long as there will be no reports, I think that would be an excellent idea

 

[dude316]

Why stop there. Let's start even earlier and begin with round negative 3!

Geniuses we are. Will probably get called in to AFL house and offered a directors role

They should start next season halfway through this season.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

As long as there will be no reports, I think that would be an excellent idea

Just fines for anything real untoward

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Ugh..!

You prefer a weekend with no footy?

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

They should start next season halfway through this seseason.

Wish we did last year!

 

[Samcro24]

You prefer a weekend with no footy?

Sure why not

 

[cm_perfect]

I don’t get the beef with any of this, so SOA won’t be what it was but it’s preseason and will still be decent games when we will be craving for footy. Who cares if it’s played? We are seeing players go down at training and internals.

Round zero gone.
First game showdown, no travelling and really even with a port home game there’s still a chance to get a ticket.
Later start means none of this train for 5 weeks then 3 weeks off bulk shit, preseason starts in the new years.
Finals and GF later in the season, better weather.
Pre final bye gone.
Gather Rd locked in.

Who cares about the motives, what’s the problem?

I am pretty disappointed multiball didn’t get a mention.

 

[robboaustralia]

From memory more and more of the top players pulled out and it became pointless.

They need to put up some big $$$ for the players to get full buy in otherwise will probably just be an exhibition game.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Sure why not

No problems... just don't watch the game lol.

 

[George CantStandYa]

Genuinely think having time to settle into the season makes the Showdown better. Lets you get a read on the team first, and lets them build into form.

Round one is always exciting. Taking one of our genuine season highlights and diminishing it for reasons that are entirely unclear is bad imo.

A guaranteed week one showdown is an awful result for the state imo.

I get that, but every second year our first game is away. I can see the build up to the showdown in week 1 being huge.

Plus at that stage neither team are good or bad, no one has played a game. There’s no real form line so there’s a lot of unknown going into the game which I believe will add to it.

We also do get a second showdown in the year.

 

[Samcro24]

We also do get a second showdown in the year.

In the last round

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

I get that, but every second year our first game is away. I can see the build up to the showdown in week 1 being huge.

Plus at that stage neither team are good or bad, no one has played a game. There’s no real form line so there’s a lot of unknown going into the game which I believe will add to it.

We also do get a second showdown in the year.

Problem is every year we play them in a pre-season game too.

Would prefer we save the build up of a Showdown later in the season.

 

[George CantStandYa]

Problem is every year we play them in a pre-season game too.

Would prefer we save the build up of a Showdown later in the season.

They will have to change that preseason game.

But I see a lot of good with the rest of the changes, if a rd 1 showdown is the cost, so be it. At least we aren’t sitting there holding our you know what’s in round zero waiting to play!