AFL Opening Round dismisses Fremantle, West Coast, Adelaide and Port Adelaide as a total afterthought

Fremantle CEO Simon Garlick was spot on this week when he declared it is time to scrap Opening Round. What began as a novelty that focused on taking advantage of a perceived gap in the sporting fixture in the northern markets has changed to being a flat start and unfair to the AFL season. And now the league has added a game in Victoria, so it really doesn’t make sense. With Fremantle, West Coast, Adelaide and Port Adelaide all sitting out Opening Round, the league has excluded two states and given fans in both Western Australia and South Australia nothing to get excited about. Even worse, by starting the season during the first weekend in March, Optus Stadium and Adelaide Oval aren’t available. So there is a total lack of buzz across two states until round two. Surely we can’t continue to think that’s acceptable. Back in 2024, there was merit in the argument that there was a gap in the sporting market that needed filling in the northern states. The NRL made the big decision to take games to Las Vegas in round one and created headlines everywhere. Manly, South Sydney Rabbitohs, Brisbane and Sydney Roosters all travelled to Las Vegas in 2024. That meant the NRL began the season with games in Newcastle, Auckland, Melbourne, Parramatta and Gold Coast from Thursday to Saturday, before closing out round one with a game at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. The lack of rugby league in Sydney, and the wait for the game in Brisbane opened doors to capture attention for AFL. But last season the NRL scheduled a game next door to the SCG on the night before Sydney’s clash against Hawthorn. Now they’ve scheduled the last two premiers, Brisbane and Penrith as the Friday night blockbuster at the same time as Gold Coast are hosting Geelong. Meanwhile the teams who are playing in Las Vegas are last season’s wooden spooners Newcastle against another non-finalist, North Queensland. NRL preliminary finalists Canterbury will also face St George Illawarra, who finished 15th last year. The NRL is using Vegas for glitz and glamour despite the teams not having the same level of hype. People will watch regardless of who plays. People will travel for the fun of the event. And they can still schedule big games in Australia. If the AFL isn’t getting its own window of opportunity in NSW and Queensland, then Opening Round doesn’t make as much sense. It can still be argued that it’s important to have AFL matches in early March to prevent the NRL from having the entire weekend without competition, but they’ve already got the hype of Vegas this weekend anyway. The AFL isn’t going to start even earlier to gain their own foothold.. If we are fair dinkum about wanting to expose footy into the northern markets, then play four matches in NSW and Queensland in round one, and sacrifice some games in Victoria. Don’t make Carlton v Richmond the round one opener every year. Don’t play Hawthorn v Essendon every year. That would show a real commitment to building the game in NSW and Queensland. But let’s not forget, footy is going bloody well in those states. Brisbane have won the last two premierships and also played in the 2023 grand final. Gold Coast have produced five top-10 draft picks from their Academy in the last three seasons, made the finals last season and bookmakers have them as second favourite for the flag. Sydney have played in three grand finals across the last decade. The Giants have missed the final only twice in the last 10 years. It’s not like they’re battling and need a leg-up. One of Garlick’s big concerns was the advantage clubs who play in opening Round have during Round one when confronting an opponent who had the week off. Round one this season will see seven matches between a team that played in opening round against a team that didn’t. If those games are all won by the team that played in opening Round, the AFL will have a major issue. There are also concerns about how little time clubs get to build strength and fitness for the players now that the season has been brought forward so far. Round one started on March 18 in 2021. That’s nearly two extra weeks of training compared to the March 5 start this season. Clearly the addition of Gather Round means footy will always start a week earlier than in the past. But we started on April 2 in 2015 so that’s a massive difference. But the real key is starting the AFL season with excitement and opportunity for every club, every player and every fan. The only way that can happen is if 18 clubs are all playing on the same weekend. So scrap Opening Round and give the season the type of launching pad it truly deserves.