Eddie McGuire proposes bold three part revamp to AFL fixture

Eddie McGuire has proposed a bold new revamp to the AFL fixture, with a three part system he believes the key to solving some of the league’s main issues. Read Eddie’s full proposal.

Former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire has proposed a bold AFL fixture revamp which he believes will keep the season alive longer for clubs, while at the same time boost overall attendances, TV ratings and potentially future media rights deals.

McGuire was set to discuss the idea on Channel 9’s Footy Classified on Tuesday night, having already spoken to the AFL about what he says are the merits of “taking the fix out of the fixture”.

He told this masthead that he had aimed to come up with a system that still looked like an AFL fixture, but which provided better bang for buck and greater opportunities for growth for the game.

“In the spirit of Greg Swann’s common sense approach to the rules of the game and the way it is played, Footy Classified has decided to look at an alternative draw that takes the fix out of the fixture,” McGuire said.

“At the moment there are so many compromises and deals within deals with stadia, media, sponsorship and members to make it one of the more complicated assignments in sport.

Eddie McGuire has proposed a bold AFL fixture. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

“Obviously the most even result is to play each team once or twice with a finals series. However to pay the bills the AFL’s target is 216 games per year and neither of those options works.

“So our assignment is to come up with a season as fair as possible to find the premiership team, while making every game count in the quest for the flag.”

He said the aim was “excitement while keeping it simple … the AFL (has already) floated a competition within a competition, others speak of a “Wildcard Round”, but we’ve come up with a concept that takes some of these elements but still looks like an AFL season.”

“Our objective: a fair competition, where every game counts, integrity is paramount, hope springs eternal, maximising attendance, media value and profit.”

McGuire’s proposal would break the AFL fixture into three parts – a home and away season, a qualifying system followed by a final eight showdown to the premiership.

In the first section of the home and away season each team would play each other once – across 17 rounds – while there would also be scope for four “Exotic Rounds”.

The first “Exotic Round” would see all 10 Victorian teams playing each other in Round 1, while the Queensland teams would take on the New South Wales teams and the South Australian teams would tackle the Western Australian teams.

McGuire said this would be a bumper round to kickstart the premiership season, with the prospect of chasing 500,000 fans to the games.

“When the NRL comes back from Las Vegas, we can say that’s good, but we’ve just had 500,000 people for our opening round,” he said.

Two of those “Exotic Rounds” would be rivalry rounds which would give the AFL the opportunity to stage the blockbuster clashes so crucial to the current draw that drive attendances and interest.

The last “Exotic Round” would be Gather Round, which is locked into Adelaide until the end of 2026, with Peter Malinauskas’ government already looking to extend it beyond that.

McGuire said after those 21 rounds, the ladder would reset for the qualifying rounds, with the two bottom sides dropping out of the flag race and playing each other, potentially for access to the No.1 draft selection for the winner.

McGuire wants a competitive opening round against the NRL’s Vegas opening round. Picture: Supplied

AFL’s Gather Round is locked in Adelaide until the end of 2026. Picture: Phil Hillyard

The other 16 teams would still be alive with those who finished 1-15 (odd numbers) and 2-16 (even numbers) divided into two different top eights.

As McGuire said: “Over the next two weeks those teams would (fight to) qualify for the final eight.

“As two teams are eliminated each week they are relegated to playing against themselves so that they can ‘play the kids’, ‘have a chance of a win and to sing the song’, even have a way of playing out the season for draft picks.

“But the main focus is on winning and the dream of a premiership.”

The two top four teams would receive the double chance, with the top two winning teams in week one getting a bye in week two and progressing directly to the finals.

“Everyone else is playing sudden death football,” McGuire said.

The best four teams in each division would qualify for the final eight, with the current finals system then taking place.

McGuire said: “There is a distinct advantage for teams who finish highest on the ladder (but there is also) the hope of a miracle run for those who don’t.”

“Importantly teams that are out of contention don’t skew the final eight as they currently do, nor is there a tanking issue for the integrity of the game.

“This adds up to 214 games, two short of now, except all of them would mean something and the schedule would have at least three opportunities to be reset for maximum commercial outcomes.”

He said the draw would be made across two years to balance out the home and away privileges.