3 minute read
The AFL is banking on big crowd pullers Collingwood and Essendon to beef up their prime Thursday and Friday night time slots.
The AFL have banished lowly Carlton and St Kilda from the prime-time fixture slots, while rewarding Collingwood and banking on Essendon.
Eight five-day breaks are another feature of the 2019 draw as the league tries to maximise the Thursday and Friday night clashes.
AFL fixture boss Travis Auld was asked if the league might one day repeat this season's disastrous experiment, where Carlton were given four Friday night games.
"Not based on the feedback we got, no," Auld said with a rueful smile
"There was strong feedback there.
"We owned some of that last year when we released the fixture - it was a series of reasons, why we ended up where we did."
Carlton finished bottom this season and the Saints, who narrowly missed the top eight last year, plummeted to 16th.
St Kilda had three Friday night games this season - next year, between them, the only prime-time slot for either club will be Carlton's now-traditional Thursday night season opener against Richmond.
Auld said the MCG clash always attracts bumper crowds and Carlton deserve it.
He also smiled when asked if he felt the AFL had nailed next season's fixture, saying he was "incredibly confident".
"It's always easy today," he noted.
"A fixture gets easier when you've got a Collingwood playing good football and you've got what looks like the re-emergence of Essendon coming through."
Collingwood have a whopping seven Friday night games, two more than any other club, while Essendon have four despite dropping out of the top eight this season.
"When it's a team like Collingwood - such a big club, such a big supporter base - you have to take advantage of that," Auld said of the losing grand finalists.
"There's a lot of expectation around Essendon coming into next season and they've been rewarded."
Fremantle and Gold Coast join the Saints as the only clubs without Thursday or Friday night games.
The clubs with five-day breaks will have long breaks either side of the short turnaround as compensation.
The league also took the unprecedented step of potentially swapping two round-nine games, should Melbourne Victory loom as potential hosts of the A-League grand final.
The two floating round-nine games is a first for the AFL - usually, only round 23 is kept open.
Essendon's Saturday night match against Fremantle will swap with Sunday's Port Adelaide-Coast match should Victory host the A-League decider.
The AFL has scheduled Thursday night matches in each of the five opening rounds in 2019, and eight overall, in a move certain to please broadcasters.
Richmond will play under lights on Thursday at the MCG in the opening two rounds against traditional rivals Carlton and Collingwood, and again in round 13 away to Adelaide at Adelaide Oval.
Anzac Day also falls on a Thursday in 2019, when the Bombers will host the Magpies in the annual daytime fixture.
West Coast will unfurl the 2018 premiership flag at Optus Stadium against GWS in round two before heading to the MCG for a rematch of the 2018 grand final against Collingwood.
