Kevin Sheedy says 28-round home and away seasons in each of the next three years would help save football
Kevin Sheedy has floated a radical three-year plan to help AFL clubs survive the coronavirus crisis. How would the coaching legend’s life-saving strategy work? Tell us what you think.
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Australian football legend Kevin Sheedy is proposing 28-round home-and-away seasons for the next three years to help boost revenue and save AFL clubs.
The coaching great’s plan has all teams playing against each other five times over three years (one season would need 29 games).
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Sheedy said clubs should have only two selections in this year’s AFL national draft, so loyalty was extended to players on this season’s lists.
Sheedy cited 1981, his first year as Essendon coach, as an example of teams coping with an expanded season.
Essendon played 22 home-and-away and five night series matches, including the night Grand Final against Carlton.
“It can be done,” Sheedy said.
“We did it. This is a lifesaving plan for our fans, our AFL Commission and our leaders in the football community.
“It’s not even radical, it’s common sense.
“You want your club in 10 years? Then get it right in the next three years.
“I don’t want to lose a club, so we need to think wide and lateral now and go into the future with positive thinking.
“You’d have more games to recoup money we’ve lost.”
AFL fixture boss Travis Auld has been formulating a plan for this year, depending on when the season is given the green light to resume.
Midweek matches are part of Auld’s think-tank, as is a “football extravaganza” to be played to replace the Tokyo Olympic Games void from July 24 to August 8, which was first mooted in the Herald Sun.
Sheedy said: “This is Travis Auld’s job to work out.”
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick told Fox Footy Live this week he was in favour of midweek games next year.
In what was a blank-canvas situation with variables to be explored, Harwdick said instead of the traditional play-train-play model from one weekend to the next, he believed players would rather a play-play-play model.
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Sheedy said it worked in 1981.
“Essendon’s 1981 season is a very standard, good season to look at what can be achieved,” he said.
“We won 21 games that year (16 home-and-away matches and five night-series clashes) and we worked eight hours a day in our daily jobs.”
He stressed the extra matches would require shorter quarters and an expanded bench of six players.
“We have to keep the players pretty fresh, keen and healthy,” Sheedy said.
“And go on, ask a player if they’d rather play or train and the answer is simple. And ask him, would you like to get back the games you've lost this year?”
He said players should be rewarded for their loyalty this year with the extra matches, and that cost of attendance and memberships could also be reduced.
“We would pay back our members for being loyal in a time of crisis,” Sheedy said.
“Give them more games at less cost and the players would have to come to the party on that. We’re all in this together, aren’t we?”
His plan to start the AFL season earlier would overlap with the AFLW season.
“Women's footy ain’t going to bring in money,” he said.
“The most important thing here is, how do we recoup revenue and if women's footy can help so be it. But I tell you, men’s football is the way out of this financial strangle.
“They might have to play before the men's matches.”
Originally published as Kevin Sheedy says 28-round home and away seasons in each of the next three years would help save football
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