AFL unveils fixture for Round 18 of 2020 home-and-away season
The AFL has granted the Bulldogs a unique travel request for this season, which could provide Luke Beveridge’s team a massive advantage for a potential must-win game to play finals. See the full Round 18 fixture
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The AFL is set to grant the Western Bulldogs a rare travel request and send them to Cairns a day early for their season-defining battle against Fremantle in Round 18.
The Bulldogs need to knock over Hawthorn (Adelaide Oval) and Fremantle (Cazaly’s Stadium) to scrape into an elimination final and have managed to avoid a same-day travel itinerary for both matches.
They will share a chartered flight to Adelaide with Essendon on Saturday morning before Sunday’s clash against the Hawks.
But it was Round 18 that loomed as problematic for coach Luke Beveridge because the Dogs are travelling to Cairns by themselves.
The Dockers have been based in Cairns since last Thursday and upset Melbourne at Cazaly’s Stadium on Monday night.
The Demons were furious at being forced to travel to Cairns on game day in Round 15, when they touched down just hours before the first bounce against Sydney.
The Swans had spent several days at the Cairns hub and had trained at the windy ground.
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“We would’ve loved to have been up here before the day of the game to get a feel for the conditions,” Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin said on Sunday.
“It is different. It’s windy every day – so we need to plan for that and be ready for that.”
The Bulldogs wouldn’t confirm their itinerary when contacted on Wednesday.
But it’s believed that league officials have already given them the green light to fly north from Gold Coast next Saturday.
The Dogs are 4-0 at Cazaly’s Stadium – all against Gold Coast – and boast an average winning margin of 38 points at that ground.
The conditions shouldn’t be too foreign for the Bulldogs given 14 players from the club’s last game in the regional town remain on the list.
AFL RELEASES ROUND 18 FIXTURE
St Kilda will face off against Greater Western Sydney in a final round prime-time blockbuster that could determine which team plays finals.
The AFL on Tuesday confirmed the times and venues for Round 18, with a trip to Cairns to meet Fremantle potentially determine the Western Bulldogs’ fate.
Collingwood will host Port Adelaide in the final clash of the home-and-away season at the Gabba on Monday, September 21 in what looms as the match of the round with the Magpies’ finals berth still not concrete.
North Melbourne’s bid to close out its season against West Coast at Perth Stadium – a game to be purchased by the Eagles – ultimately failed, with the game to kick off Round 18 on Thursday, September 17 at Metricon Stadium.
All clubs have been provided with a minimum of five days’ break between Rounds 17 and 18, with finals contenders allowed six days.
The early scheduling of the Kangaroos-Eagles clash would allow West Coast — which had requested to play the first game of the round — to return to Perth in ample time to prepare for quarantine should they be allowed a home final in Western Australia.
FULL ROUND 18 FIXTURE
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 17
North Melbourne v West Coast, Metricon Stadium, 7.10pm
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 18
St Kilda v GWS Giants, Gabba, 7.50pm
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 19
Essendon v Melbourne, Metricon Stadium, 2.10pm
Adelaide v Richmond, Adelaide Oval, 5.10pm
Brisbane v Carlton, Gabba, 7.40pm
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20
Hawthorn v Gold Coast, Adelaide Oval, 1.05pm
Sydney v Geelong, Metricon Stadium, 3.35pm
Fremantle v Western Bulldogs, Cazalys Stadium, 6.10pm
MONDAY SEPTEMBER 21
Collingwood v Port Adelaide, Gabba, 7.15pm
* all times AEST
30K AT GABBA, HOW MANY AT OTHER FINALS?
The Queensland Government’s promise to let 30,000 fans attend next month’s Grand Final is not expected to extend to other matches in October.
Queensland’s health department currently allows stadiums to reach 50 per cent of capacity, although additional protocols push the final crowd numbers down even further.
The Sunshine State recorded two new COVID-19 cases on Monday, taking the number of active cases to 25, and the stadium limits are unlikely to be increased anytime soon.
That would see the Gabba remain capped at about 16,000 and Metricon Stadium at about 8000 for the first three weeks of the finals.
No-shows are also affecting crowd sizes.
Queenslanders are prohibited from transferring tickets or purchasing them at the gate to help health authorities trace potential coronavirus cases.
The number of tickets purchased in each transaction also impacts crowd sizes because, for example, the amount of seats that must be reserved for spacing differs depending on the group of spectators.
Brisbane Lions were thrilled that 15,036 attended Friday night’s win against Collingwood although neutral games in Queensland have largely been ignored.
Western Bulldogs beat West Coast in front of 532 people on Sunday night while 592 were at Metricon Stadium when North Melbourne lost to Port Adelaide in Saturday’s sole fixture.
But the AFL is planning for a finals series that is made for television, with all matches set to be staged under lights in prime time for the first time in AFL history.
That means the October series could be watched by a record number of people at home, and also attended by the fewest number of spectators in more than 100 years.
The October 24 night Grand Final could draw a TV audience of close to six million, which would be a huge jump on last year’s 2.2 million as Richmond destroyed GWS in an afternoon flop.
Clubs including Brisbane Lions and Port Adelaide have not been officially told how many fans will be allowed to attend their home finals in the first three weeks.
If South Australia’s COVID-19 cases remain under control it is likely that Adelaide Oval could cater for 25,000 people.
In South Australia’s pitch to the AFL Commission for the Grand Final it promised a crowd of 31,000. Adelaide Oval was placed on standby should the game be moved away from the Gabba.
West Coast is likely to choose Adelaide Oval – where it has an 8-2 record – to play its home finals once Perth Stadium becomes unavailable.
But the Eagles haven’t committed to adopting Adelaide as their second home and would weigh up factors such as who their opponent is before making a final call.
Eagles powerbrokers are still fighting hard behind the scenes to keep Perth Stadium in the finals frame.
West Coast beat GWS in front of 27,339 at Perth Stadium less than two weeks ago, just days before relocating back to Gold Coast for another stint in a hub.
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WHAT WILL 2021 FIXTURE LOOK LIKE?
– Sam Landsberger
The AFL will resist taking shortcuts when it pulls together next year’s fixture with bottom-four clubs Hawthorn and North Melbourne set to be rewarded with two of the easiest draws in 2021.
It was reported earlier this year that the AFL could simply use the fixture originally planned for 2020 next year instead of drawing up a new one from scratch.
The 2020 fixture was torn up after Round 1 and replaced on the run after the season was reduced by 45 games due to COVID-19.
The AFL is usually deep in the process of producing the upcoming fixture by early September, however has understandably given it little thought this year.
The AFL only locked in the Gabba as the Grand Final venue last week and is still planning for this year’s finals series.
But league executives remain confident they can produce a complete 198-game home-and-away fixture for 2021 by early November, which is only slightly behind the usual timeline.
Port Adelaide would have been the big winner if the league chose to adopt the wasted 2020 fixture next season.
The ladder-leader would’ve received six games against Adelaide, Hawthorn and Gold Coast as well as a double-up against Western Bulldogs, another team outside the top eight.
The weighted rule is set to return, where clubs are grouped in brackets of six based on their final ladder position this year to help work out which teams they face twice.
That rule will see the Hawks and Roos receive either two or three double-ups against fellow bottom-six clubs next year.
A strong dose of normality is set to return with clubs expecting to play 22 games in the traditional format with 20-minute quarters.
But the overwhelming success of the “Footy Frenzy” – where games have been played every night — has given the league food for thought.
There is a chance that concept could be retained in some form for next year’s school holidays, so long as crowd sizes aren’t impacted too heavily.
The AFL wants to get the 2020 season done before assessing which experiments worked so well this year they should be looked at going forward.
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Originally published as AFL unveils fixture for Round 18 of 2020 home-and-away season