AFL fixture 2020: Winners and losers from Round 14-18 fixture
Richmond had a favourable run on the way to its 2019 premiership and it’s a similar story a year later. But another Victorian based club vying for the top-eight has a nightmare draw. WINNERS AND LOSERS
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Melbourne and Essendon will play their makeup game in Round 17 as the AFL kicks off its second Footy Frenzy with a Thursday double-header featuring Hawthorn-Essendon and Richmond-West Coast.
The league will play on 17 of 18 days from August 27 before a normal Round 18, with AFL boss Gillon McLachlan revealing the league was likely to have a bye before finals.
The league will play Western Bulldogs-Geelong on the Friday of Round 14, with the AFL having the next Monday off before ploughing into Round 15 on Tuesday September 1.
Round 17 will finish with Collingwood hosting Gold Coast at the Gabba on Monday September 14.
SCROLL DOWN FOR THE FULL FIXTURE FOR ROUNDS 14-18
Then the AFL’s floating fixture will have games slotting into days and times when the AFL’s ladder becomes more apparent.
Games in that Round 18 fixture that could be contenders for Thursday and Friday night games include Collingwood-Port Adelaide and St Kilda-GWS.
In Round 18 Adelaide takes on Richmond, Brisbane hosts Carlton, Essendon plays Melbourne and Sydney takes on Geelong.
No team has a bye in Round 17.
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But Adelaide and Brisbane have byes in Round 14, Geelong, Gold Coast, North Melbourne, Port Adelaide, St Kilda and the Western Bulldogs have Round 15 byes and Collingwood and Richmond have Round 16 byes.
“The feedback from clubs, players, broadcasters and fans has been supportive of the initial compression phase of rounds 9-12 – clubs and players are enjoying playing more often and viewership remains very strong, with the average audience up 14 per cent year on year,” fixture boss Travis Auld said.
“Scheduling a second compression phase allows us to again play more matches in a shorter period of time as the majority of clubs continue to live in a hub environment.
“The support of players, clubs and broadcasters to take this approach, paired with the limitations on attendance at matches, supports the playing of games in non-traditional timeslots that allow us to showcase our game to fans across the entire week.”
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BIG FIXTURE TAKEAWAYS
How does the fixture affect your club?
Jon Ralph breaks down the major talking points from the AFL’s fixture announcement.
1. GAZ WATCH
The Cats will be happy with their run home, having a bye after a free-to-air clash against the Dogs, then nine days off with a bye before clashes in Round 16 and 17 against Essendon and Geelong before a Round 18 clash against Sydney.
It means if Ablett can get into a hub soon he could play those last three games as a perfect warm-up for finals. Geelong has done the hard yards and shown it has enough depth to beat teams around it, so with Ablett back it could be capable of anything.
2. RICHMOND HOPES
Everything sets up well for Richmond with few crazy-short breaks and a well-placed bye.
The Tigers play Essendon in the Dreamtime game in Darwin then five days later play West Coast at Metricon Stadium. Dodging the Eagles at home after their earlier game against the 2018 premiers in Queensland was pushed back is a real positive.
That’s a tough early stretch but then they have six days until Fremantle, a bye that gives them a nine-day break until they take on Geelong in Round 17, then Adelaide as a perfect finals tune-up. Everything is set up for them to hit September full of run and with Bachar Houli, Shane Edwards and Dion Prestia back in their side.
3. ST KILDA‘S TOP 4 HOPES
If they are good enough they can finish top four, with games against Melbourne, Hawthorn, West Coast and Brisbane.
The Eagles game comes off a four-day break, which isn’t ideal, but they have a bye leading into the Hawks clash which gives them an eight-day break in there as well. And that Eagles clash comes with West Coast coming off a four-day break as well which neutralises any disadvantage.
4. IT’S TOUGH FOR CARLTON
The Blues could play five games in around 22 days depending on when their floating Round 18 clash lands. They play Colingwood, GWS, Sydney, Adelaide and the Lions in quick succession, having already had their bye. The first four games are in 15 days, so the depth of the squad will be tested. If they are to play finals as David Teague hopes, it’s a tough run.
5. THE LOSERS
Essendon’s run home is bloody tough, including five games from August 27 to the weekend of September 19-21.
In that time they play Hawthorn, West Coast, Geelong, Port Adelaide and Melbourne.
Three of those teams are flag contenders, having just come off Richmond the previous week.
6. EAGLES TOUGH RUN
West Coast has a run of five games in 19 days and their Round 14-7 clashes are tough – Richmond, Essendon, the Dogs and St Kilda.
They come off a clash next Sunday against a GWS side that at least on paper should be a challenge. It means the Eagles not only have to jump back into a hub but take on premiership contenders with little back-up. The Richmond clash is only four days after the Giants game, with a five-day break before the Essendon game. They will have earnt a top-two spot if they get it.
7. STAND OUT MATCHES
The Round 14 Carlton-Collingwood match at the Gabba might be the kind of upset that the Blues need to slingshot into the finals after a trio of losses in their last three games to the Pies.
In Round 17 the Saints take on West Coast at the Gabba on Thursday September 10 and will have to win games like that to frank their top-two credentials.
8. MATCHES TO BORE
Thankfully there seem to be no outright dead rubbers in Round 18, and with a bye ahead before the finals no one will feel the need to rest a dozen players if their ladder position can’t change.
Adelaide will potentially have its last chance to win a game against premiers Richmond, while Hawthorn and Gold Coast play and might both be out of finals contention by then.
But the other seven clashes at least have one team in finals contention.
9. WHEN IS THE BROWNLOW?
Everything points to the Brownlow in the days after Round 18 when the AFL has 15 of its teams in Queensland and the rest able to fly in from Adelaide if need be.
If the AFL has a post-Round 18 bye they could get all the contenders in the one room – socially distanced of course – on the Gold Coast.
Then after Lachie Neale wins the thing, the teams would have a weekend to freshen up and then hit the finals with a Thursday clash, with most teams closer to full strength.
10. WHY A BYE LEADING INTO FINALS?
With only 18 rounds and 17 games the AFL wants teams to play to the line. If teams knew they weren’t playing for home ground advantage and were unable to lose a top four or finals spot, why play your stars in Round 17 if there was no bye.
So COVID numbers willing, the AFL seems ready to again slot in a bye, believing clubs like the Western Bulldogs have shown teams can win from anywhere in the top eight if they are refreshed leading into the last four weeks.
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