VAFA scheduling overhaul to play Premier Men’s grand final on AFL grand final weekend

The best players across VAFA will have a chance to realise the dream of playing on AFL grand final weekend following a major competition overhaul. Find out the key details here.

The best of the Victorian Amateur Football Association will realise a dream of running out on AFL grand final weekend in 2024 as part of a complete season overhaul for the league.

VAFA have announced a restructure to their season scheduling, with the competition’s vaunted Premier Men’s competition extending out to culminate in a massive grand final on the Victorian public holiday Friday before the AFL decider.

The restructure of the competition will also include the move of the Premier Under-19 Men’s and Premier Thirds Men’s competitions to start a week earlier to assist with finishing times to the season.

For the second-straight year KommunityTV will exclusively live stream a weekly double header from the VAFA’s Premier competitions, split across the Premier Men’s and Premier Women’s competitions, as well as non-exclusive coverage of the finals series.

Players during the VAFA Premier Division Grand Final between Collegians and St Kevin's at Elsternwick Park in Brighton, Sunday, Sept. 24, 2023. Picture: Andy Brownbill

The change to scheduling means the VAFA finals period will now be extended across almost six weeks of action, starting with the Premier Thirds semi-finals on August 10 and culminating in the Premier Men’s decider on September 27.

The Premier Men’s and Premier Women’s grand finals will be held on back-to-back weekends, while the Premier Under-19s Men’s grand finals will be played the weekend prior to the Premier Women’s decider.

As part of the changes two full competition bye weekends have been included in the Premier Men’s draw, outside of the regular Kings Birthday and Representative Weekend competition-wide bye rounds.

The Premier Men’s and Premier Women’s seasons will officially kick off with Round 1 on Saturday, April 13.

VAFA chief executive officer Jason Reddick said the fixture change would open the competition to a wider audience in 2024.

“This is an exciting initiative that we have had on the radar of the Presidents of the Premier Clubs for over 12 months now,” Reddick said.

“Their support for the day was subject to the return of the double bye mid-year, so we are pleased to be able to accommodate that request.

“Our expectations are that playing our Grand Final on the public holiday when no other football is occurring, will enable us to showcase our Premier Men’s competition to an even wider audience.”