AFL commits to coming back to opening round as long as crowds are strong

The AFL is gearing up for the second iteration of Opening Round, and says it is committed to the concept – as long as they keep hitting a key metric. JAY CLARK has the details.

The AFL says Opening Round will remain in the northern states for as long as it continues to attract sellout crowds and drive bumper growth in the game in Queensland and New South Wales.

The league is adamant Opening Round will be another massive success for the league with four sellout games this weekend helping create more awareness in Australian rules in rugby league heartland.

Some Victorian clubs continue to hold concerns for the overall fixture integrity as the eight clubs involved in Opening Round are forced to have a second in-season bye.

Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick also hit out at the AFL last week for the pre-season schedule which left the Swans unable to fly home to Sydney on the night of their match against the Suns last Friday.

Andrew Dillon in Sydney with Mitch Lewis, Will Hayward, Jesse Hogan, and Mason Cox ahead of Opening Round. Picture: Darrian Traynor/AFL Photos/via Getty Images.

But AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon said the league loved starting the season north of the Victorian border as it could hand-pick match-ups between northern clubs and powerhouse Victorian rivals for the first games of the year.

“This year we are looking at four sellout games and we are seeing again New South Wales and Queensland clubs’ memberships up by double-digit percentage on last year,” Dillon said.

“So every indication is we will continue doing it.

“And by having the Opening Round games stand alone, it allows the teams in New South Wales and Queensland to play against big Victorian clubs which may not necessarily happen in a traditional fixture.”

Dillon said the league was again hopeful of bumper crowds back home at the MCG and Marvel Stadium next weekend with marquee games slated between Carlton and Richmond, Hawthorn and Essendon, North Melbourne and Western Bulldogs and Collingwood and Port Adelaide to help launch round 1.

He said last year the crowd numbers were enormous, proving Opening Round did not suck the excitement out of the start of the AFL season in Victoria.

“Round 1 last year was the highest ever attended round we have ever had in the history of the game. Over 410,000 people attended,” he said.

AFL CEO Andrew Dillon speaking in Sydney on Monday. Picture: Darrian Traynor/AFL Photos/via Getty Images.

“So Opening Round is a great entree and round 1 we will again see huge numbers watching the game not only in Melbourne, but all across the country.”

In other developments, Dillon said there had been no change to the timeline for Tasmania’s entry into the AFL in 2028 despite concerns over the construction of the new stadium at Macquarie Point.

It was hoped the stadium would be complete by 2029 for the new side’s second season, but construction work is yet to begin.

“I was down in Tasmania last week and met with the premier and other people via Stadiums Tasmania and they are in the middle of quite a complex planning process,” he said.

“But at the moment everything is on track for Tassie to join the competition in 2028.

“There will be more to come on that later in the year.”

Dillon also said there was a good chance there would be a State of Origin game next February on the back of encouraging conversations with club captains last week.

He said the Indigenous All-Stars representative game against Fremantle this year was a total success.

The AFL has had record crowds during Opening Round. Picture: Phil Hillyard.

“It (State of Origin) is one we are really keen to explore,” he said.

“We opened the conversation with club captains a couple of weeks back and there was a real excitement from the club captains.

“We saw with the All-Stars game when the players and clubs buy in to the concept that is when you have 40,000 people watching that game (at Optus Stadium) and hundreds of thousands watching on Foxtel and Kayo across the country.

“So if the clubs and the players get behind it (State of Origin), I think we could absolutely see it next year.”

Hardwick complained last weekend the pre-season schedule caused headaches for the Sydney Swans after their game on Friday as Dean Cox’s men could not leave until Saturday.

The Swans are scheduled to host Hawthorn on Friday night at the SCG.

But Dillon said he was pleased with the pre-season format this year including one match simulation and one official pre-season game.

“I haven’t spoken to Damien particularly on that one,” he said.

“Putting the fixture together and tying that up with airlines and airport curfews is quite complex.

“We will continue to work with our clubs on that but I think the way the match sim into the AAMI Community Series game worked really well.”

Originally published as AFL commits to coming back to opening round as long as crowds are strong