AFL fixture 2021: Competition to return to 20-minute quarters, home and away season to span 23 rounds

The AFL reverts to longer quarters in 2021 and the response from most fans has been positive. Do you agree? VOTE NOW

Footy will revert to 20-minute quarters next season.

The league has shifted back to the traditional game length after this year’s 16-minute experiment forced by the COVID crisis, which was met with criticism across the football public.

The AFL has also revealed it will release the first six rounds of the 2021 season before Christmas and adopt a floating fixture for the remainder of the year.

Match ups between Round 7 and Round 23 will also be released but without specific dates or timeslots.

Fixturing in rolling blocks will allow broadcasters to schedule bigger games in marquee slots as the season unfolds.

“The AFL informed clubs that, at this stage, it plans to release Round 7-23 in blocks of approximately four to six weeks with at least four weeks’ notice to allow best possible planning for all stakeholders, including fans wanting to travel to matches,” a league spokesman said.

Richmond and Carlton are already locked in to play the season opener at the MCG on March 18 under a return to a standard 22-round home-and-away fixture.

The AFL has also committed to a review of how funds are distributed to the 18 clubs in the wake of the COVID-19 financial crisis.

It follows revelations five of the competition’s richest clubs have held side talks regarding the carve up of the AFL’s revenues.

Collingwood, West Coast, Richmond, Hawthorn and Essendon want the AFL to guarantee annual distributions for all clubs equivalent to the full salary cap next year and beyond – and not just to the competition’s cash-strapped teams, as has been the position over the last decade.

But reports the league is set to announce a sweeping independent review of the entire competition are off the mark.

The last comprehensive assessment of the AFL system was in 1993 when economist David Crawford handed down a report leading to the creation of the beefed-up commission model that still exists today.

Sydney Swans chairman Andrew Pridham is pushing for a fresh review of the competition and has the support of multiple rival clubs.

The AFL said the AFLW season would commence on Thursday, January 28.

“The 14-team competition will consist of nine home-and-away rounds plus three weeks of finals … up from the scheduled eight rounds in 2020,” the league said.

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Dustin Martin and Marc Murphy clash during Round 1 of the 2020 season. Picture: AAP Image/Michael Dodge

“All matches will be fully ticketed for the first time as part of the continued progression of the competition and ensuring all venues are COVID-safe.”

The full AFLW fixture will be released on Friday.

The 2021 season will have a single ladder, with the competition moving away from conferences.

The AFL commission has also approved recommendations relating to the AFL and AFLW match review and tribunal systems.

The changes will see:

-The definition of ‘high’ contact expanded to cover if there is a careless or intentional dangerous tackle which has the potential for injury to be caused through dangerous high contact with the ground but where high contact does not actually occur;

-The guideline in relation to upgrading impact based on the potential to cause injury expanded to capture all intentional strikes (not limited to head-high strikes only);

-The ‘contesting the ball’ exception in relation to high bumps and forceful front-on contact tightened by changing the requirement that “the player was contesting the ball and did not have a realistic alternative way to contest the ball” to “the player was contesting the ball and it was reasonable for the Player to contest the ball in that way”.

Originally published as AFL fixture 2021: Competition to return to 20-minute quarters, home and away season to span 23 rounds