Eddie McGuire has proposed a bold revamp of the AFL fixture to ensure that "every game matters" as the season progresses. Currently, the league follows a rolling schedule, revealing the first 15 rounds and delaying the rest to maintain flexibility and enhance audience engagement for vital matches. However, McGuire believes this model is insufficient and advocates for a new format that could reinvigorate the competition.
Discussing his ideas on Nine’s Today, the former president of Collingwood outlined his vision for a fixture where each team plays one another once over 17 rounds, supplemented by four additional rounds of rivalry games and a celebrated "Gather Round." This structure is designed to not only fill stadiums but also keep the excitement alive.
McGuire’s plan introduces a ‘qualifying round’ aimed at pairing stronger teams against each other, allowing the middling teams to compete among themselves while the struggling teams face off. He suggests that this would prevent unbalanced matchups—such as leading teams dominating weaker opponents—during the season’s concluding stages when many teams are already out of finals contention.
This approach would maintain a final eight structure while promoting more competitive matches towards the end of the season, ultimately enhancing television viewing experiences. McGuire envisions a system where all games hold significance, ensuring that even the latter parts of the season retain viewer interest. According to him, this plan focuses on the needs of young fans and aims to eliminate the frustrations that arise when fixture decisions are made without considering the overall impact on the competition.
His vision includes dropping the bottom two teams from overall contention, allowing them to compete among themselves without disrupting the leading teams’ race for the finals. With this strategy, he argues that every week would essentially resemble an elimination final, maintaining the thrill and competitiveness essential for AFL’s success.
In summary, McGuire’s proposal seeks to create a more engaging and meaningful season for all teams, avoiding mismatches that dilute the significance of late-season games and enhancing the spectator experience overall.