AFL fixture 2025: Rounds 16-23 set to be released this week

The lobbying for a standalone Showdown is officially on with the second half of the 2025 fixture due to be released this week. But the day of the Dons-Suns season finale remains up in the air.

Adelaide has lobbied the AFL for a standalone home Showdown against Port Adelaide on the Thursday or Friday of round 20 to give one of footy’s great rivalries the national focus it deserves.

The Crows are also hopeful of securing Thursday or Friday night clashes against Hawthorn and Collingwood as the club surges up the ladder playing high-scoring attractive football.

The AFL promised clubs that under its rolling fixture good form would be rewarded for later rounds, with the round 16-23 fixture to be released as early as Thursday.

The Crows are hoping for the Showdown to get its own stage. Picture: Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images

The Crows have a series of enticing games in the round 16-23 release period — the home showdown in round 20, and Adelaide Oval games against Hawthorn (round 21) and Collingwood (round 23).

The Crows are often slotted into Saturday night clashes by the AFL but are determined to push for Thursday and Friday night games against the Power, Pies and Hawks.

Those marquee games secure the biggest number of eyeballs for clubs, maximising the exposure for their national sponsors.

The Crows are fearful the league will only slot them into Saturday night slots for those contests but have lobbied hard to be given the best possible exposure.

This weekend’s contest against Port Adelaide was another spectacular exhibition of football as the Crows prevailed in a nailbiting contest.

Gold Coast is open to a Wednesday or Thursday night game against Essendon after round 24 to play its second fixture of that round as it makes up its game postponed from Cyclone Alfred.

The AFL still has to work out how to squeeze both games into the fixture, with the Bombers also taking on Carlton and the Suns playing Port Adelaide (away).

The AFL is open to playing that final game of the home-and-away season on a Wednesday or Thursday leading into the pre-finals bye — after they have played their first game earlier that weekend.

But with the Suns flying back from Adelaide they will be hopeful of a six-day break leading into the Dons clash.

If the league prioritises a longer potential break leading into finals for either Gold Coast or Essendon then the AFL could schedule a Wednesday game.

The league now starts its finals series with a Thursday game and both Essendon and Gold Coast are at this stage finals contenders.

The Suns and Bombers are locked into the season finale. Picture: Mark Stewart

The league will only release its round 24 fixture in the weeks leading into that round but is already considering how that round will play out.

The Giants are hopeful the AFL will grant their request of their first Friday night clash at ENGIE Stadium against Geelong in round 18.

The Giants beat Geelong for a fifth consecutive time at GMHBA Stadium in one of the games of the round on Sunday night and take on the Cats again in coming months.

GWS has mostly been locked out of Thursday and Friday night games, in part because it is easier to draw a crowd in western Sydney on weekends.

The Giants are hunting their first Friday night game on their home deck. Picture: Josh Chadwick/Getty Images

But GWS football boss David Matthews said on Sunday the club had requested a Friday night game in western Sydney and was hopeful of a positive response from fixture boss Josh Bowler.

“It’s even a possibility, maybe not giving too much away but we have requested for the AFL to give us an opportunity to play a Friday night game, so we are hoping for some positive news on that to play Geelong up there. The first ever Friday night game is the potential opportunity we have got so that could be a good fixture,” he told K Rock.

GWS is keen to maximise its fixture in the back half of the season given it is locked out of its home stadium early on through Easter Show commitments.

But Matthews said the Giants were ranked seventh in commercial return of the 18 clubs and had aspirations to be as big as the powerhouse West Coast off the field.

“Covid knocked us around and it’s taken us some time to rebuild our commercial base. We got some data during the week, we are seventh for commercial sponsorship. Membership is growing, we will go past 37,000 this year, being a young club, our focus is to build the fan base and the stadium. We look at Geelong to be a club we can look towards the future towards. Over time we can become as big as Geelong and then as big as West Coast. It is going to become a very big club but the momentum is there off the field.”

Carlton’s clash with Hawthorn could be impacted by the British & Irish Lions tour. Picture: Michael Klein

The AFL will have to work around the MCG’s commitment to the British & Irish Lions rugby union clash against the Wallabies in Round 20 on a weekend where there are two high-drawing AFL games.

The MCG is booked for the Saturday night rugby game but could turn around the field for a Sunday afternoon clash.

Hawthorn is set to host Carlton and Richmond will host Collingwood across that weekend at the MCG.

So the league could fixture Hawthorn-Carlton on Thursday or Friday night and Richmond-Collingwood on the Sunday given the Tigers are improving but unlikely to be ready for prime time.

The MCG is confident it can turn around its field by replacing goal posts and quickly painting line markings from the Saturday night clash into a 1.10pm or 3.20pm Sunday afternoon clash if needed.

Originally published as AFL fixture 2025: Rounds 16-23 set to be released this week