Carlton retains season opener against Richmond but loses all other marquee timeslots
CARLTON has been stripped of all marquee timeslots except one and North Melbourne will be given a chance to make Good Friday a permanent fixture.
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THE AFL has endorsed Carlton’s participation in the season opening clash with Richmond and given North Melbourne a chance to make Good Friday a permanent fixture for the Kangaroos.
The wooden spoon Blues have been stripped of all marquee timeslots bar their home Round 1 clash with the Tigers.
But as the league revealed a fixture with eight five-day breaks and 10 games of football in 11 days around Rounds 5 and 6, it also threw the Blues a bone.
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AFL fixturing boss Travis Auld said the Blues were not in danger of losing the Round 1 game because of their poor performances last season.
“I strongly believe they deserve to continue with that opportunity,” he said.
Auld said the game “stands alone”, having drawn an average crowd of 80,000 over the past five years and an attendance of 90,151 this year.
North will host a Good Friday clash for the third year, with the league sensitive to religious views by starting that game, and West Coast-Port Adelaide, after 4pm.
Auld said the league would consider locking in a club for the fixture for 3-5 years.
Essendon and North are both predicting a sellout crowd for the clash.
“North Melbourne have had the game for three years and have been pushing for it for a long time,” Auld said.
“We will make a decision at some stage to lock in two teams for a period of 3-5 years.”
In other fixturing news:
THE league looked at a floating fixture for the last three rounds of the season for more flexibility but floated only Round 23, with Collingwood-Essendon shaping as a potential Friday night clash.
THE league could swap the Round 9 Essendon-Fremantle clash at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night with the Port Adelaide-Gold Coast clash at Adelaide Oval on Sunday if Melbourne Victory hosts the A-League grand final.
SIX teams have been handed a five-day break as the league seeks to supercharge Friday nights, while Melbourne and Richmond will play off a four-day break leading into their Anzac eve fixture.
Essendon travels to Sydney to play the Swans at the SCG off a five-day break while its opponent has six, but Auld said as a club desperate to play in marquee timeslots the Bombers weren’t complaining.
Originally published as Carlton retains season opener against Richmond but loses all other marquee timeslots