AFL backs Pies, Dons and Tigers in 2019 fixture, but no ‘free kick Hawthorn’
THERE’S no such thing as too much of a good thing for the AFL when it comes to plotting the 2019 fixture. And that means fans of the other 17 teams should get used to seeing Collingwood on TV a lot, writes MARK ROBINSON.
AFL News
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The AFL is a bull at the gate.
League bosses see opportunity — compounded by money, crowds and TV timeslots — and they snort and bubble and pound their hoofs with excitement.
The mighty black and white are the red rag to the bull.
And why not.
EVERY MATCH: ENTIRE 2019 HOME-AND-AWAY SCHEDULE
ANALYSIS: YOUR CLUB’S FIXTURE PROS AND CONS
PLAN NOW: 11 GAMES YOU CAN’T MISS
JON RALPH: FIXTURE GAMBLES ON BOMBERS RISE
Collingwood, this year’s near-Cinderella story, is next year’s prime-time baby.
Non-Collingwood folk better like watching Collingwood play — and that would be a first — because Nathan Buckley’s team will play two Thursday night games, a competition-high seven Friday night games and two Saturday night games in 2019.
Add Anzac Day (on a Thursday) and Queen’s Birthday Monday and it’s blockbuster city.
The Magpies start the season with six of seven games under lights before a Saturday afternoon timeslot against Carlton at the MCG in Round 8.
The AFL and the TV networks couldn’t be happier having the Magpies as a strong premiership contender.
Whether they stay contenders is another matter.
Champion Data rates them as having the hardest draw of any team in 2019.
Still, add Essendon, which is again being cuddled by the AFL, and add Richmond, which deserves to be cuddled by the AFL, and three of the big-supporting Melbourne clubs will be front and square 2019.
The Bombers were given the Good Friday clash against North Melbourne _ on top of Anzac Day, the Country game and the Dreamtime game — which should prompt dissatisfaction from rival clubs and fans.
Scheduling a Good Friday game was debated for decades before the AFL took the plunge in 2017 and scheduled North Melbourne vs Western Bulldogs.
Then it was North Melbourne vs St Kilda in 2018.
Typically bull at a gate, the AFL has introduced a double-header in 2019 — North Melbourne vs Essendon and West Coast vs Port Adelaide.
What is traditionally a sacred day for Christians with the backing of the AFL Commission has become a sacred day for football with the absolute backing of the commission.
From zero games to a double-header within three years maybe is a sign the church doesn’t have the same pull it once had, at least at headquarters.
That the Bombers are playing and the Saints got scratched is all about the TV product and crowd pull.
The Bombers are the apparent boom team, but it’s best for everyone that people stop talking about how good they can be and they start playing good football to earn their new status.
Clearly, you don’t want to be a poor-performing team because you get treated like you have leprosy — the AFL doesn’t want to know you and rival clubs want to crush you.
The AFL screwed up last year by giving Carlton four Friday night games and, bull at gate again, deleted them all for this year.
Money and crowds and ratings are the key indicators for the AFL, but hopefully one day it will be about balance and not a mentality about all-in one season and all-out the next.
Fremantle, Gold Coast and St Kilda don’t get one of the eight Thursday-night spots or any of the Friday night slots, while Carlton has only two night games for the season — the season-opener against Richmond and Saturday, Round 13 against the Bulldogs.
If you’re busy with kids’ sport or work on either Saturday or Sunday afternoons, you’ll probably miss a year of watching live Charlie Curnow and Patrick Cripps. That’s not ideal for anyone.
The schedule seemingly gets more complex with every season.
Twenty-two games are played over 23 weeks by 18 teams in a prefigured six-six-six format.
Clubs today are whingeing, in parts salivating and mostly understanding and accepting of their schedules.
That is, apart from Geelong and Hawthorn.
Geelong will get the headlines early in the season. The Cats play Collingwood (away), Melbourne (home), Adelaide (away), GWS (home), Hawthorn (MCG), West Coast (home), Essendon (MCG), North Melbourne (away) and the Bulldogs (home) in the first nine weeks. That is a mighty tough nine weeks for a middle-of-the-road team.
The Hawks say they didn’t get any of their priority fixture requests and Champion Data ranks them as having the second most difficult draw behind Collingwood.
Free kick Hawthorn? Not this time.
Originally published as AFL backs Pies, Dons and Tigers in 2019 fixture, but no ‘free kick Hawthorn’
Track watch: Pies bolter makes his move as best 23 takes shape
Collingwood’s match sim session on Friday gave the clearest indication yet of how of how Craig McRae’s side will look in 2025 – and a born-again defender was right in the middle of it.
Track watch: Port bull passes big test, JHF sizzles
Rory Atkins on kick-in duty, the SSP midfield audition and Sam Powell-Pepper ticking off a major milestone in his comeback – there was plenty happening at Alberton on Friday.