AFL news: Follow all the news out of league headquarters

The league is closing in on locking in the full AFLW fixture along with the start of the AFL season. But there are Covid complexities hanging over both competitions.

Lachie Plowman of the Blues and Jaeger O'Meara of the Hawks collide.

The AFL is preparing to release its AFLW fixture this week, which will be a 10-week competition starting on January 6.

The Herald Sun understands the league is strongly considering introducing a floating fixture for Round 9-10 to ensure the best possible contests in prime time slots.

Fremantle expects to be on the road for much of January given the WA border is not yet open to eastern seaboard clubs, and teams entering the state would require 14-day quarantine.

The league has worked with the Dockers and West Coast on the maximum amount of days they could be away given work, family and university commitments.

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Fremantle and West Coast could be on the road for the entire AFLW season. Picture: Graham Denholm/Getty Images

The men’s fixture will follow in the second week of December, with Carlton and Richmond to open the season and Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs likely to be the Friday night marquee clash of Round 1.

The league will continue to monitor the new omicron Covid variant, which has sporting codes nervous ahead of what were expected to be packed-out stadiums leading into new seasons.

The AFL’s expectation was that there would be no crowd limits next year, with the MCG already back to its 100,000-patron capacity for the Boxing Day test.

But with governments nervously assessing the omicron variant’s capacity to spread, leagues will be worried about its impact after two seasons when their balance sheets have been decimated.

The three bumps outlawed in AFL crackdown

Match review officer Michael Christian is set to remain in his role next year as the AFL attempts to provide players with greater clarity in its crackdown on head-high bumps.

The league’s revamp of the head-high rule means a trio of contentious bumps that saw players reported in 2021 would all be cut-and-dried suspensions next season.

Patrick Dangerfield’s Round 1 head clash that broke Jake Kelly’s nose and left him concussed as well as David Mackay’s accidental clash with Hunter Clark would both be clear-cut suspensions.

So would Lachie Plowman’s collision with Hawthorn’s Jaeger O’Meara, that saw the Carlton defender suspended for two weeks after it was judged he did not attempt to spoil or mark the ball.

Former Carlton coach David Teague said the incident was “in the spirit of the game” and the Blues appealed the decision but failed to have it overturned.

McKay escaped suspension for his hit on Clark, which caused extensive damage to the St Kilda defender’s jaw and still has him in modified training given the explosive nature of the hit.

Patrick Dangerfield and Jake Kelly collide. Picture: AAP Image/Matt Turner

The league is fighting concussion battles on multiple fronts, with campaigner Peter Jess believing retired premiership player Daniel Venables deserves $10 million in compensation as he works with the league on a payout.

West Coast premiership star Brad Sheppard might miss the entire 2022 season due to concussion issues, with a decision only weeks away.

Christian and former AFL football operations boss Steve Hocking worked closely, with the AFL official rubber-stamping all decisions as part of his role. But the pair were at odds over at least one case this year.

The Herald Sun understands Christian will continue in his role in 2022, with new AFL football manager Brad Scott set to provide guidance to the one-man match review panel.

Lachie Plowman crashes into Jaeger O'Meara. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Scott has made clear the league is keen to crack down on all incidents where a player bumps and makes head-high contact that injures a rival.

“In most instances there is a player who is late to that contest,“ Scott said this week.

“If you’re late and you hit the player in the head, you’re going to be in trouble. There’s broad acceptance of that amongst the clubs.”

The league’s challenge will be to provide a set of parameters and wording to players to ensure they are clear on their responsibilities to opponents.

Commentators have grown frustrated that players who forcibly bump rivals to the head – but do not injure them – are often treated differently to those who bump but concuss or injure rivals with the exact same force.