AFL’s radical 17-5 fixture overhaul could help deliver AFLPA’s second mid-season bye wish

THE AFL’s determination to overhaul the fixture with a radical new concept could finally deliver the players their wish of a second mid-season bye.

Patrick Dangerfield gets a kick away in front of Marcus Bontempelli. Picture: Michael Klein

THE AFL’s determination to overhaul the fixture with a radical new concept could finally deliver the players their wish of a second mid-season bye.

And with league boss Gillon McLachlan’s determination to keep the pre-finals break under the 17-5 format, that outcome would grow the season with three rests.

The league is accelerating plans to implement the 17-5 fixture model with the likelihood it could go live in 2018 swelling.

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A working party with a range of stakeholders is being established to thrash out the logistics of how the Americanised season structure would work on our shores.

Players’ association boss Paul Marsh expects the 17-5 format to carry two byes after the league rejected their primary fixture request for 2017.

“We would expect a bye at the midway point of the first 17 rounds and then another prior to the final five rounds, providing players with two genuine rest periods,” Marsh said.

AFLPA CEO Paul Marsh. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan.

“The AFL’s refusal to grant the players’ primary fixture request for next season is an extremely unsatisfactory outcome, especially considering two in-season byes was achievable.”

The 17-5 format would see every club play each other once and then snap off into groups of six based on ladder positions.

The final five rounds would effectively become a new season, with clubs to play each team in their group.

The top six would be confirmed finalists and battle for a top-four finish.

The middle six would contest for the final two September places, but the stumbling block remains how to maintain interest in the bottom six.

The league could put the No.1 draft pick up for grabs, but would need to ensure it does not counter equalisation measures.

McLachlan said a pre-finals bye would be needed to ensure fairness for the two teams hosting elimination finals.

“One of the pushbacks was that all of the top six play each other and have an incredibly tough period of games, and then you’ve got the middle six with theoretically less intense games,” McLachlan said.

“And then you have fifth and sixth playing seventh and eighth off a harder run. The bye I think deals with that.”

Club powerbrokers initially rejected the 17-5 model, but are now warming to it.

Most now believe it is a significant step towards solving fixture inequity, but have raised commercial concerns.