AFL set to host games in Northern Territory in Round 13, including Essendon-Richmond dreamtime fixture

The AFL’s Round 13 fixture will be released on Thursday, with at least two games expected to be played in the Northern Territory. Here’s the first look at some of the match-ups

The annual dreamtime game between Richmond and Essendon will be played in Round 13.

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THE AFL will announce Round 13 of the AFL fixture on Thursday afternoon then canvass its clubs on the physical toll of a compressed fixture before it considers pushing on with its quick-fire festival of football.

The league has been thrilled with the early response to a fixture that has seen it schedule 33 games of football in 20 consecutive days, that includes multiple midweek double-headers.

It believes for Victorian fans who are locked in their homes under curfews it has been a welcome respite, with the games continuing to record massive ratings.

Features of the Round 13 draw will include a Sydney-Fremantle clash and the Richmond-Essendon Dreamtime clash on the night of Saturday night of August 22.

The Gold Coast Suns are set to take on Carlton on the Friday night of Round 13 in Darwin, 24 hours before the historic Dreamtime clash in the Top End capital

The NT News understands Carlton and Gold Coast will play on the Friday night of Round 13 in Darwin, 24 hours before that historic Dreamtime clash.

West Coast will take on GWS in the other game in West Australia, after both Sydney and the Giants have a bye in Round 10 then take on each other in a local derby at Optus Stadium in Round 11.

The Supercars’ first Darwin round has been postponed from this weekend and pushed back to August 15-16 due to coronavirus restrictions.

Some areas of south-east Queensland have been declared COVID hot spots by the Northern Territory government but the first AFL games will be played on August 21 and August 22.

With COVID-19 numbers still low in Queensland, the league will not be forced to condense Rounds 17-18 and its four-week finals series because of the health threat in that state.

Instead it will allow teams another week of the fixture to assess the physical and mental toll on players as it seeks extensive feedback.

If the players are exhausted and need a week’s break before moving on there is flexibility in the schedule to push back the next round by several days.

If the feedback is that players are thriving with football under the compressed schedule it can keep marching through its fixture at a rapid pace until Round 16.

Essendon’s Kyle Langford outmarks Nathan Broad during a Dreamtime at the G clash.

Ideally the league would play Rounds 13-16 over the same three-week period as Rounds 9-12.

The league’s plan has always been to play Rounds 17 and 18 over the normal Thursday-Saturday timeline then play a normal finals fixture, albeit outside of Victoria.

It will allow clubs to build into the finals with proper rest periods, as West Coast and Fremantle prepared to fly to Queensland in coming weeks for a second Gold Coast hub.

Ideally the league would continue to compress its fixture until Round 15, then slow down the pace of its season until an October 17 Grand Final.

West Coast and GWS Giants are expected to clash in Round 13.

The league is open to what the AFL Brownlow Medal looks like given it will almost certainly not be held in Melbourne.

The most practical solution would be holding it in Queensland on the Monday after Round 18, with 16 clubs in Queensland and Adelaide out of the finals race.

Port Adelaide would be the only team inconvenienced, but could easily hold a Brownlow Medal dinner in Adelaide with video-links to the ceremony.

The AFL has held a short discussion on plans for the Brownlow Medal but is genuinely open-minded and has done very little work on the timing or venue so far.

There are multiple venues on the Gold Coast that could easily cater for a Brownlow Medal ceremony that housed hundreds of players.

Originally published as AFL set to host games in Northern Territory in Round 13, including Essendon-Richmond dreamtime fixture