Roast Has Opening Round been totally botched?

[Ice-Wolf]

If it means I don't have to watch Carlton v Richmond to open the season I am for it. It is a bit odd though.

They're still marketing that as the season opener.

 

[hawkman]

Doesn't bother me, at least it isn't Richmond Carlton again

I'm happy there is no footy in Melbourne this weekend. Wouldn't look forward to going to the MCG on Saturday afternoon in 39 degree heat.

 

[The 747]

They're still marketing that as the season opener.

That's great. Doublethink in action.

 

[Teen Wolf]

How is having Victorians filling GC and GWS stadiums growing the game up that way?

Games with bigger crowds generate more money for clubs and attract greater media coverage.

Can you figure out why greater media coverage and more money for GC and GWS helps grow the game in QLD & NSW, or do you need that incredibly obvious thing explained as well?

 

[STPer18]

Games with bigger crowds generate more money for clubs and attract greater media coverage.

Can you figure out why greater media coverage and more money for GC and GWS helps grow the game in QLD & NSW, or do you need that incredibly obvious thing explained as well?

And then the Victorians go home. No amount of shilling will make a four game opening round a good idea.

 

[speedpeck23]

Great Result......so many talking about opening round , can't miss.

 

[Mentallo]

I thinks and I hopes it is one and done this year.

 

[Liam Boy]

Great Result......so many talking about opening round , can't miss.

I've had a great day today! I shat my pants in front of a massive crowd of people. All publicity is good publicity, as they say

 

[HairyO]

Such a weird concept to kill the buy in of half the competitions supporters by saying “nah, you guys can wait another week before you get to see your team play”.

I honestly don’t know how it got voted through as a good idea.

But also, AFL.

Dumb idea is dumb. AFL is AFLing.

 

[ItsAllAboutMe]

SuperCoach has become such an important part of the fans engagement and this ridiculous concept has killed the joy out of setting up my round 1 team.

 

[RonnieRaven]

It looks like all four games are going to sell out (or very close to it) in the three northern markets that the AFL is desperate to expand into and the NRL doesn't get the headstart that they have had in years goneby. The first AFL game in Sydney this year will be played on Thursday night - the first NRL game in Sydney this year will be played on Saturday night. The first AFL game in Brisbane this year will be played on Friday night - the first NRL games in Brisbane this year will be played on Sunday arvo. The first AFL game on the Gold Coast this year will be played on Saturday arvo - the first NRL game on the Gold Coast this year will be played on Saturday night. Level pegging (arguably better time slots for the AFL) at the beginning of the season in all three markets for the first time ever.

How can this be viewed objectively as anything other than a success for the AFL? Just because there are no games in Victoria this weekend doesn't mean it's a flop of a concept.

I get all that but it needed to be an extra full rd.
It’s just got us further away from a fair and equitable fixture

 

[ItsAllAboutMe]

Yeah split round would be okay.

Now we are going to have this annoyance in the ladder of different number of games played until all the byes are caught up.

Given it’s a long weekend this week, could have spread the first round out over the 14 day period and achieved the same thing but would have at least made sense.

Thurs
Frid
Sat
Sun
Mon
Thur
Fri
Sat
Sun

 

[matty lloyd the champ]

For me, it isn't even a parity issue of teams getting an advantage over teams not playing this weekend.

It's the fact that round 1 should be the most exciting round of the Home and Away season with 9 games of proper football after 5 months off. Having just 8 teams play makes it feel anti-climatic and I would feel the same regardless if those 8 teams were Victorian or not.

 

[btdg]

The crazy thing to me is that Carlton, Richmond, Collingwood and Sydney will have played twice before 10 other teams play their first game.

How on earth does it make sense to have Carlton and Collingwood travel then play on a 6 day break, and Richmond travel for a 5 day break, when there 10 teams that could slot in there instead?

Both Carlton and Richmond have injury concerns, in part because of a shortened preseason, and are playing extra cautious with the travel as a result and hokding back injured players. This is a huge advantage to home teams Brisbane and GC, particularly given GC have a 7 day break and play at home next week and the Lions have an 8 day rest before travelling to Freo.

Similarly Sydney have a home opener, followed by an 8 day rest before playing against Collingwood who are travelling and have a 6 day break.

Forget the commercial.implications and even the competitive balance - fixtures tend to sort themselves out over time. This is still just utter lunacy in fixturing.

If Richmond vs Carlton had to be Thursday and you wanted big Melbourne clubs this week why not have Essendon replace Richmond, and maybe Hawthorn instead of Carlton. Then play GWS/Collingwood (a replay of a better prelim final anyway) on Friday night instead of Saturday. Hawthorn/Essendon could still be Saturday 1:45 the following week on a 7 day rest... bloody simple really

 

[dumb]

i've been a bit more confused than i would like to admit as to who is actually playing this week. what the hell is OR in the fixture? it came before round 1, so didn't count in my brain.

 

[Lorenzo DMH]

dont think anyone cares about the games being played outside melbourne, just splitting the round is ridiculous for no sane reason and adds further fixture disparity between the teams

You do realise there are places in Australia where footy is watched not named Melbourne, right? I think they might care. Also I forgot to mention that the mid-season split round would replace the current mid-season bye structure. What I outlined imo, does the opposite of adding "further fixture disparity between the teams"

 

[maskmcgee]

Botched by putting the most boring game of all time on first

 

[PP34]

Boy I’m glad the first game of the season is at the worst ground to watch footy on TV on in the country

 

[STPer18]

Driving potential fans away at an alarming rate. Awesome initiative.

 

[YeoShuey]

Should have had Carlton as the opening match.

Increases our membership base and introduces new fans to the sport. Win/win.

 

[deck]

Trivia question. Which team or teams had 2 wins at the end of Round 1 2024?

 

[Tuck In]

AFL marketing team - let’s have a new opening round spectacular. Make the season start memorable.

AFL schedulers - let’s make it at The SCG with two defensive teams.

 

[j09948772]

Not sure why two bottom of the 8 teams from last year are opening the season. Were they just banking on Grundy vs Gawn being worth watching?

 

[Defabs]

Gold Coast v Carlton
Giants v Swans

Edit: That’s a lie. My brain is messing with me.

Happened in 2012 only mate, sorry.

Giants v Swans

Collingwood V Freo and Adel v Ess in 2014 was held a week before the other games.

I remember the Pies getting absolutely smashed!

 

[WalshistheGOAT]

Just someone tell me why we wouldn't open with Carlton Collingwood at the G??? This is utter shite. Even the drone footage looks like it was shot with a potato