AFL news: latest happenings around fixturing, finances and the competition's potential rule changes

They might have won the flag, but Geelong is about to get a back-ended schedule of home games at its redeveloped Cattery fortress. Here’s why.

The AFL will hand premiers Geelong a back-ended schedule of home games with the new-look 40,000-seat stadium likely to be complete as late as June next year.

Geelong chief executive Steve Hocking said the fifth stage of the GMHBA Stadium development would be a massive fillip for the local community and allow the ground to host more events like March’s Foo Fighters concert.

But the builders have given a May or June 2023 finish date which means the Cats would again be at heavily restricted capacity if they played early-season home games there.

It means the league will work with the AFL on a fixture that the Cats hope will include nine GMHBA Stadium games late in the year and two MCG games against Victorian powerhouse teams.

Geelong is yet to decide whether it will unfurl its premiership flag at GMHBA Stadium or do it early at the MCG.

The Herald Sun reported last month the AFL were expected to play Carlton-Collingwood as the regular season-opener instead of a reprise of the Grand Final rematch.

Patrick Dangerfield and the Cats will play the bulk of their 2023 home games in the back-end of the fixture. Picture: Michael Klein

The AFL believes playing a Wednesday night season opener for a Geelong side with so many country members would not maximise the fixture.

Hocking said the door was not totally closed on playing Sydney at the MCG in round 1.

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The Cats might be able to host finals with a 40,000 seat capacity stadium but Geelong has made clear it will not lobby for those finals and hopes to build a membership base that would require finals with greater capacity.

The securing of former first-round picks Jack Bowes, Tanner Bruhn and Ollie Henry means Geelong will again strive for the premiership while building for the future.

“(We) spoke about it early last year and people were looking at me wondering what I was talking about. A foot in the now and a foot in the future. Hopefully what you are seeing now is exactly that,” he said.

“We want to compete now and we want to compete into the future and it’s all been part of the plan that has been going on.”

The extra AFL game next year means the AFL will have a chance to hand some clubs another blockbuster fixture.

In theory it also gives the league a chance to equalise the fixture by playing the contending teams against each other more and the strugglers against fellow bottom-six teams.

But this year the emergence of clubs like Collingwood – from 17th to the top four – meant there was less equalisation from the fixture than the league might have hoped

League’s plan for subs and bench in 2023

—Jon Ralph

The AFL is leaning towards a four-man bench with a substitute available for tactical purposes next year as its competition committee meets on Wednesday to discuss a potential change.

A competition committee that includes sacked St Kilda coach Brett Ratten, sacked Fremantle AFLW coach Trent Cooper, Hawthorn AFLW coach Bec Goddard and Melbourne president Kate Roffey will meet at AFL House.

The league’s football operations team will ultimately make a recommendation that will need to be ratified by the AFL Commission in coming weeks ahead of a tweak to the contentious rule.

Geelong chief executive Steve Hocking said on Tuesday the league would need a “compelling” reason to abandon some form of sub rule.

He said having five players on the bench who had to be interchanged with a cap of 75 interchanges would be overwhelmingly complicated.

There is also a fear that if a club suffered an early injury they would still be disadvantaged by having four players to interchange against a rival team’s five players on the bench.

Geelong chief executive Steve Hocking says the AFL would need a “compelling” reason to abandon some form of sub rule. Picture: Michael Klein

The Herald Sun revealed mid-year the AFL Doctors Association had secured a concession from the league that it would review its rule given the extreme pressure on doctors to make decisions guided by football priorities.

Clubs were canvassed on their thoughts on potential changes across the finals.

“It will be interesting to see where it lands. You have a cap on rotations anyway at 75 so I am not sure that extra person makes a difference,” Hocking told News Corp.

“It becomes very hard to manage five players (on the bench) with only 75.”

The league introduced the rule to help clubs replace concussed or injured players but soon there were unintended consequences.

Initially clubs had been told if they subbed out a player he would likely miss the next week but it became apparent clubs were subbing off players if they believed keeping them on the field would heighten their chance of worsening an injury.

Some clubs had been hopeful of a five-man bench with no restrictions that could allow clubs to play two pure ruckmen.

A tactical sub would allow clubs to at least bring on a fresh player midway through the third quarter or later at the same time as a rival with an injured player to ensure their team was not at a disadvantage.

Hawks’ $4m Tassie money in limbo as Gov’t plays hardball

—Jon Ralph

The Tasmanian government has told Hawthorn it cannot commit to a new contract to play games in the state next year until it receives certainty from the AFL about its own 19th licence.

Hawthorn is confident it will secure another extension on its lucrative Tasmanian sponsorship after president-elect Peter Nankivell met with premier Jeremy Rockliff on Monday night in Launceston.

But it was made clear to the Hawks by premier Rockliff and the state’s sports minister Nic Street the government could not hand over its annual $4 million commitment until the league officially backed a Tasmanian team.

The Tasmanian government is hopeful the decision could come in the next few weeks, with the AFL hopeful before last night’s development it could release its own fixture early in December.

The Herald Sun understands one option is that the league hands over a provisional licence contingent upon a new stadium deal that paves the way for $8 million of total annual funding to flow to Hawthorn and North Melbourne next year.

The Hawks had been so confident about a new deal their newly produced 2023 Hawthorn jumpers have the Tasmanian logo and membership have been sold with Tasmanian home games.

The Hawks guernseys for 2023 already have Tasmania sponsorship on them. Picture: AFL Photos/Getty Images

Hawthorn president elect Peter Nankivell told the Herald Sun on Monday night the club was still confident about the deal but it was a matter of respecting the state’s determination to win its own team.

“We met with the premier and the sports minister and they were entirely complimentary of the partnership the Hawthorn football club has with the state of Tasmania,” he said.

“The discussion was extremely positive. The state of Tasmania is and remains supportive of the Hawthorn football club. The expectation is that there will be a public commitment to the Hawthorn football club. But despite the state of Tasmania wanting to give certainty to the Hawthorn football club, the state of Tasmania wants certainty from the AFL.”

“I think if there was to be a provisional licence and that had a stadium requirement that wouldn’t have to be dealt with yet for there to still be that positive commitment to the Hawthorn football club for season 2023 and beyond. I think that is part of the mutual respect in the relationship.”

Packed houses greet the Hawks when they head south. Picture: Getty Images

The Hawks are broadly supportive of the state being handed a 19th AFL licence despite Jeff Kennett’s vocal criticism of aspects of the deal but are aware a new team would not come in until 2027.

The Hawthorn contract has been in place for 16 years and is understood to be worth at least $4 million a year to the Hawthorn football club.

North Melbourne has a separate deal with Tasmania that sees them also promoting the Spirit of Tasmania, with that deal expected to be extended for 2023 at least.

Tasmanian Greens leader Cassy O’Connor urged the Rockliff government to tear up the Hawthorn arrangement worth $4 million after the Hawthorn First Nations allegations were made public.

But the state believes the economic impact of the Hawks and North Melbourne deals are worth a combined $40 million per year.

Originally published as AFL news: latest happenings around fixturing, finances and the competition's potential rule changes