AFL Fixture 2024 analysis: All the winners and losers out of the fixture, why the AFL has gone bye heavy
Why has the AFL dudded a powerhouse club in this year’s fixture? Scott Gullan has all the talking points out of the 2024 fixture including the best round of the season and inside the byes.
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Welcome to the Year of the Bye.
While supporters and commentators continually bemoan them throughout the season, in 2024 the dreaded bye is the AFL’s favourite toy.
More than a third of the season won’t have all 18 teams competing on the same week.
Nine rounds are impacted by byes, starting with the “opening” round – yes that’s what they’re calling it with Round 1 starting the next week – where there are only four games.
They’re then back in Round 2 where Brisbane and Carlton have earnt a rest after just two games. The following week the GWS Giants and Gold Coast Suns have a spell.
Gather Round in Adelaide in Round 4 interrupts the flow before the byes are back for Collingwood, Sydney, Melbourne and Richmond across Round 5-6.
Fans then get a six-week block of everyone involved before the favourite toy is back for a four-game stretch from Round 12-15.
READ MORE: FULL 2024 FIXTURE REVEALED
NICE DOUBLES
The league clearly thinks Geelong is over the hill or they’ve conveniently forgotten it was only 12 months ago they won the flag given the generous double-up grouping Chris Scott’s team finds themselves in.
That late season slide to 12th has paid off given the Cats play North Melbourne (17th last year) and Hawthorn (16th) twice in 2024 and for a nice added extra boost they also get to host the West Coast Eagles at GMHBA Stadium in the final round.
The Cats will play nine games at their newly refurbished ground, six at the MCG and one at Marvel Stadium. They are also the AFL’s night-time specialists with nine games after dark.
Fellow premiership contenders Melbourne, Carlton and the Western Bulldogs also get a nice leg-up from the groupings. The Demons play wooden spooners West Coast twice while the Blues and Dogs get two match-ups with the Kangaroos.
DON’T GO ANYWHERE
Port Adelaide will be popping the champagne bottles at Alberton given they will be spending four of the first five weeks at home. The Power get a lay-up in the opening round against West Coast and then travel to the MCG to play Richmond who they beat at the venue this year.
They then host Melbourne, Essendon and Fremantle at the Adelaide Oval.
Carlton won’t be going far either with seven of its opening nine games at either the MCG or Marvel Stadium, including a run of five straight. They then finish the season with five of the last six games in Victoria.
Essendon gets to top that midway through the year when they have 10 weeks sleeping in their own beds, not leaving the state from Round 13-23.
After copping three trips in the opening five weeks of the season, reigning premiers Collingwood cruise home with seven of their last eight games at the MCG.
STAND UP TIME
If the Western Bulldogs are going to be legit this year there is a mid-season stretch that will sort out Luke Beveridge’s team.
The Dogs get five games in a row at Marvel Stadium between Round 11-16 including three consecutive blockbusters which will either confirm their premiership credentials or expose them.
They kick off Round 11 on a Thursday night against Sydney, then play Collingwood the following Friday night under the roof with fellow grand finalist Brisbane then coming to town for another Friday night blockbuster.
We will also know a lot about Carlton’s progress between Rd 7-11 with the four-game stretch including matches against Geelong, Collingwood, Melbourne and Sydney (at the SCG).
HOME STRETCH
Richmond are the most puzzling team to get your head around but if new coach Adem Yze can find a way to keep them hanging around the finals equation approaching the last portion of the season then the draw really opens up.
The Tigers are in Victoria for the last five games including match-ups with North Melbourne, Hawthorn and the Gold Coast.
If Ross Lyon can make Marvel Stadium the Saints fortress then his team will get a chance to rush home with eight of their last nine games at Docklands, including the last six in a row.
NAUGHTY CORNER
The West Coast Eagles are paying for their sins, banished from free-to-air TV for the first 16 weeks which are locked in before the floating fixture clicks in. Channel 7 won’t be taking their cameras to Optus Oval to cover Adam Simpson’s team who also won’t feature on Thursday for Friday nights, only playing on Saturday (five times) and Sunday (nine).
Hawthorn have also been excluded from the Thursday/Friday roster but the Kangaroos get a taste with two Friday encounters, one being the Good Friday game against Carlton while the other happens at Norwood Oval during Gather Round.
And is there a bit of payback for the Tigers from headquarters? As we know during Richmond’s premiership run there was some tension with the AFL, particularly during the Gold Coast Covid lock-in time, and then with the club’s public disdain of Marvel Stadium didn’t go over well.
Next year’s draw sees the Tigers assigned seven interstate trips, including two to Perth, they’ve been booted off Adelaide Oval for Gather Round, and will play at the Cattery against Geelong (Round 12) for only the second time in 12 years.
BEST ROUND
While the first couple of weeks have some impressive match-ups, the AFL has gone bang in Round 8 at the start of May. Finally the Showdown between Port Adelaide and Adelaide gets some prime time love on Channel 7 on Thursday night May 2.
The Friday night match-up is Carlton v Collingwood with the first game on Saturday the Battle of the Bridge, Sydney v GWS. That night the MCG has another cracker with Melbourne hosting Geelong while the Sunday even has some interesting clashes – Richmond v Fremantle, Western Bulldogs v Hawthorn with the Q clash, Brisbane v Gold Coast, to finish the round.
SMELLY SUNDAYS
The byes have killed off Sunday football. There are a number of rounds where there are only two games on the Sunday and they’re mostly stinkers. For example in Round 5 Geelong plays North and West Coast hosts Richmond. The next week is even worse with Sydney and Gold Coast the early game followed by North Melbourne-Hawthorn.
Hang on, maybe we went early on saying that was the worst. In Round 7 it’s Gold Coast v West Coast then Hawthorn v Sydney.
TEN DOESN’T CUT IT
Finally Ch 7 and the AFL have listened to the punters and managed to shave some time off the starting time for Friday night football but is 10 minutes enough? A last-minute change-of-heart – literally just a few hours before the official release of the draw – has seen the dreaded 7.50pm start punted for a 7.40pm kick-off. Thursday night games have also had a trim and will start next year at 7.30pm.
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