AFL fixture 2024: Richmond to face five day break between their first two games of the season
Adem Yze’s reign as Richmond senior coach is scheduled to start with a bang as the Tigers face a five-day break between their opening round and traditional first round Blues blockbuster.
Richmond will have to overcome a five-day break in the lead-up to the traditional Round 1 blockbuster against Carlton as part of a taxing start for new coach Adem Yze.
As the Herald Sun revealed on Wednesday, the Tigers will meet Damien Hardwick’s Gold Coast on ‘Opening Round’ and then have only five days rest before taking on Carlton in front of a packed MCG in Round 1.
The quick turnaround from Saturday afternoon against the Suns to Thursday night against the Blues means the Tigers will be the first club handed a five-day break in 2024.
It means Yze will likely require some fresh legs for the Round 1 clash against the Blues – one of the premiership favourites for next season – to help run out the game.
It will be a challenging start to the new era under Yze and an emotional first-up encounter against Hardwick, the man who led the club to premierships in 2017, 19 and 20.
Clubs know there will be up to three five-day breaks per team in the 2024 fixture to help integrate more Thursday night football into the fixture with Thursday night games slotted across the first 14 weeks of the season.
The full fixture will be released on Thursday.
Richmond is determined to rejoin the finals mix in 2024 after missing the eight last year when assistant Andrew McQualter took over from Hardwick for the second half of the season.
Carlton will have an extra night’s rest than the Tigers leading into Round 1 as Michael Voss’s men prepare to tackle Brisbane on Friday night at the Gabba in a repeat of the preliminary final in ‘Opening Round’.
The Blues will likely fly back from Queensland on Saturday morning, while the Tigers will head back on Saturday night after the match-up against the Suns.
Richmond is confident Tom Lynch will be fit to play in the opening games as he prepares to fight back from a year ruined by foot injuries.
TIME TO GET USED TO THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTY
– Josh Barnes
Footy fans will be able to block out Thursday nights on the calendar until mid-June next season, with each of 2024’s first 14 rounds to feature an early start to the weekend’s action.
Ahead of the full fixture announcement later this week, AFL CEO Andrew Dillon revealed games will kick off on Thursdays for the entire first half of the next season.
This year, Thursday games featured for the first five rounds before they were paused and returned when clubs came off the mid-season bye.
A winner with broadcasters, the earlier start to the footy weekend has been held back from being an all-year fixture feature as it forces teams into five or six day breaks between games.
There were 11 Thursday night games in the 2023 regular season.
Collingwood and Melbourne also played a qualifying final on a Thursday night in front of 92,636 fans.
Carlton and Richmond both played three times on Thursdays in 2023, with the Blues expected to feature prominently in prime time next year.
“Thursday night footy (is) a big hit, really popular with our fans, great for people to watch it on free to air around the country and you will see (in 2024) the first 14 rounds have Thursday night footy so I think everyone will be excited about that,” Dillon told 7 News.
The full 2024 fixture will be revealed this Thursday.
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