Skip to main content

by Johnson Leung reporting for AFANA from Melbourne

The AFL has revealed the 2015 season schedule with several changes to the format to make it more "fan friendly". After only 40,939 people turned up at the Sunday night Collingwood-Carlton game in Round 15 this year, incoming AFL Chief Executive Gillon McLachlan pledged to rethink the next year's schedule. This led to Sunday Night Football being scrapped. The Monday night game has also been dropped, as the result of average size attendances at the St Kilda-Carlton games which had been played in the time slot in the last few years.

Another major change sees Saturday night games in Victoria, NSW and Queensland starting earlier at 7.20pm AEST (5.20am US EDT), after fan feedback revealed that those games began too late for families with young children and fans from rural areas. Games played in South Australia and Western Australia will keep their current start time of 7.40pm AEST (5.40am US EDT). The early start to Saturday night games means the twilight clashes will start five minutes early at 4.35pm AEST (2.35am US EDT).

The 2015 schedule will also herald a traditional return to big Saturday afternoon games at the MCG, featuring Carlton v Essendon, Essendon v Collingwood, Collingwood v Carlton and Collingwood v Richmond. This year only eight Saturday afternoon games were played at the venue. Overall there will be 20 Saturday afternoon games in Victoria next season (up from 14) and 27 Sunday afternoon games (up from 20).

Richmond and Carlton kick off the 2015 season on the Thursday before Easter (April 3) at the MCG, while Hawthorn will begin its premiership defense against arch-rival Geelong four days later. The late start to the season is due to the Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, which makes several stadiums - including the MCG, Adelaide Oval and the SCG - unavailable for AFL games during March. The cricket tournament also means there will only be one bye during the regular season, from Round 11 to Round 13, and the Grand Final has been pushed back to October 3. The 2014 Grand Final rematch between Hawthorn and Sydney will be held in Round 8.

St Kilda will host Carlton in its annual Anzac Day game in New Zealand, which will be Mick Malthouse's 714th game as an AFL coach, equaling the VFL/AFL record held by the legendary Collingwood coach Jock McHale. It will form part of the League's first ever quadruple-header which also includes the traditional Anzac Day clash between Essendon and Collingwood, the twilight game between GWS and Gold Coast at Canberra and Port Adelaide's night game against Hawthorn at the Adelaide Oval (the Hawks' first Anzac Day game since 2010). In all, five games will be played on Anzac Day which falls on a Saturday next year.  McLachlan has defended the Anzac Day schedule, saying "it preserves all the best bits of the famous day at the MCG, while actually celebrating all the best bits of it nationally."

2015 will feature five Thursday night games. Apart from the season opener, the Thursday night games will be played in Rounds 12 (Adelaide), 13 (Perth), 14 (Sydney), and 15 (Adelaide). The reasoning for the clustering of Thursday night games in four consecutive weeks is due to club requirements for a six day break between games.

There will be a "Super Saturday" in Round 6 with six games to be played on the eve of Mother's Day with just two late afternoon games on Mother's Day itself. The Mother's Day round has been labeled the Women's Round in recent years but the name has been dropped for next year. Instead the League is looking at other strategies to engage women, including two women's football curtain raisers staged between nominal Melbourne and Western Bulldogs teams before clashes between those two AFL sides.

Richmond will play seven Friday night games next season (up from four this year and two in 2013), the most of any AFL club. Brisbane, Gold Coast, GWS and the Western Bulldogs will be the only clubs not appearing on a Friday night.

Some of the anticipated games next year include Dayne Beams' first game against former club Collingwood (Round 1), Ryan Griffen's first match against his old club Western Bulldogs (Round 9) and Paddy Ryder's homecoming against Essendon (Round 17) while new Gold Coast coach Rodney Eade will face his former team Collingwood in Round 8.

Here is how each club fares in the schedule.

ADELAIDE
Phil Walsh has the chance to get his coaching career off to a great start, with the Crows playing seven of the bottom eight teams of 2014 and only three finalists in the first ten rounds. They will meet one Top Four side twice (Port Adelaide).  The club will play three finalists on the road next season - Sydney at the SCG in Round 18, Essendon at Etihad Stadium in Round 20 and Geelong at Simonds Stadium in Round 23. They only play at the MCG once (against Carlton) and will play one game each on Thursday night and Friday night.

BRISBANE LIONS
A great line-up of matches at the Gabba, starting with Collingwood and also including big-drawing clubs Carlton, Richmond, North Melbourne, Port Adelaide and Sydney. Brisbane only plays one 2014 Top Four side twice (North Melbourne) but will play bottom three sides from 2014 (GWS, Melbourne and St Kilda) only once. They have only three six day breaks.

CARLTON
Despite missing the Finals this year, Carlton will play six Friday night games in 2015. The Blues will play six home games at the MCG and five home games at Etihad Stadium. However the club has a tough start to the season with trips to Perth and Wellington. They only play one top six side twice (Hawthorn) and come up against Richmond, Collingwood, the Brisbane Lions and GWS twice. The Blues will only play once against Essendon for the first time since 1992.

COLLINGWOOD
Collingwood will play 14 games at the MCG, including five straight from Rounds 3-7, and will encounter only one 2014 top six side - Geelong - twice next season. They will play six Friday night games. The Magpies play the most finalists of any team outside the 2014 Top Eight with clashes against the Cats, Essendon and Richmond. The Pies travel only once in the last eight rounds of the season, but face a tough run home with games against Carlton, Sydney, Richmond, Geelong and Essendon. The Pies will have eight six day breaks, the equal highest of any club.

ESSENDON
Essendon will play against this year's Grand Finalists (Sydney and Hawthorn) in the first two rounds. The Bombers only play two Friday night games next season (both against North Melbourne) and none in the opening six rounds. The Round 23 clash with Collingwood could yet become a Friday night game, depending on the club's position at that time. They will play five Saturday night games, one less than this year. On a positive note, the club has three straight afternoon blockbusters against Hawthorn, Carlton and Collingwood from Round 2.

FREMANTLE
Fremantle has been rewarded with blockbuster games in prime time throughout the season, including an Anzac Day home game against Sydney. The Dockers avoid playing Grand Finalists Hawthorn and Sydney twice and don't have consecutive six day breaks. However the club has a tough first month, only has one Friday night game and plays only one bottom six team from 2014 twice (Melbourne).

GEELONG
The only top six team not to meet any of the bottom six teams from 2014 twice next season. After the Easter Monday clash against Hawthorn, the Cats play three straight games at Simonds Stadium in Rounds 2-4 against Fremantle, Gold Coast and North Melbourne. But the club is then hit by consecutive six day breaks ahead of blockbuster MCG clashes against Richmond and Collingwood in Rounds 5 and 6 and then again against Essendon and Port Adelaide 10 and 11. Overall the Cats will have eight six day breaks during the regular season. The club will also have to play twice against this year's Grand Finalists Sydney and Hawthorn.

GOLD COAST
Gold Coast starts the 2015 campaign against Melbourne and St Kilda in the first two weeks and plays just one 2014 finalist in the first eight weeks. The Suns' 11 home games will all be played on Saturdays, six of which in the club's preferred twilight time slot of 4.35pm which will suit young families. The Suns travel to Perth and Adelaide only once and will also play in Cairns, Launceston, Canberra, Geelong and Sydney and make three trips to Melbourne. They only play one 2014 finalist twice (Sydney) and have the equal lowest number of six day breaks (three).

GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY
GWS will play their first two home games in Canberra (including the Anzac Day clash against Gold Coast) because the team's primary home ground Spotless Stadium will be unavailable until Round 6 due to the Sydney Royal Easter Show. The third game in Canberra is against Geelong in Round 17. The Giants will only play the Saints, Blues, Demons and Swans twice but will face two huge road trips to Perth.

HAWTHORN
The only team to play four Top Eight sides twice. The back-to-back Premiers have a tough start to the season, playing four 2014 finalists in the first five rounds (in 2013 Hawthorn had to play the other seven finalists of 2012 in the first seven rounds of the regular season). Hawthorn will play four home games in Launceston, against Western Bulldogs (Round 3), Gold Coast (Round 9), Fremantle (Round 15) and Brisbane Lions (Round 22).  The Hawks will play a home game at Etihad Stadium for the first time since they defeated West Coast in Round 13, 2013. The club has only one instance of two six day breaks in a row and only one trip to Perth. The Hawks' Queensland-based fans will be disappointed that the team will not travel to the state at all next year. It will also be the seventh year in a row that the Hawks do not play in Brisbane.

MELBOURNE
Melbourne will play 13 games at the MCG, highlighted by an Anzac Day eve clash against Richmond (the club's first Friday night game since 2012) and will have seven Saturday afternoon games, four of them at the venue. The Demons will play twice in Northern Territory, against Port Adelaide in Round 9 and against West Coast in Round 14. They play Western Bulldogs, GWS and St Kilda twice but this will be offset by two away games in Canberra and Adelaide, before a tough stretch from Rounds 5-7 against Fremantle, Sydney and Hawthorn. They will only play a 2014 finalist twice (Fremantle).

NORTH MELBOURNE
North Melbourne will take on Richmond in the first of three Hobart games for 2015. The newly redeveloped Blundstone Arena at the Tasmanian state capital, with an increased capacity of 20,000, will play host to the blockbuster clash in Round 6. The Kangaroos will also host West Coast (Round 10) and St Kilda (Round 20) at the venue. In Melbourne, the Kangaroos will play home games against big clubs Hawthorn, Essendon and Geelong. The club will only play two Friday night games next season, compared with five this year, and has a tough opening two months.

PORT ADELAIDE
Port Adelaide will have a tough opening eight games of next season, including five against 2014 finalists, the Showdown against the Crows and a trip to Brisbane. Port will host blockbusters against Hawthorn on Anzac Day, Geelong in Round 11 and Collingwood in Round 15.  Port will be the only club to play two Thursday night games in a row and will open and close the regular season against Fremantle. The club will play three of last year's Top Four twice.

RICHMOND
Richmond, which surged into the 2014 finals after they were 3-10 after Round 13, is a big winner of next year's schedule with 14 games at the MCG and seven Friday night games. The Tigers will play Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon twice in 2015. They have drawn three of this year's finalists twice and will travel to Perth only once. They have a tough run home over final seven rounds of the season, finishing with their only home game at Etihad Stadium against North Melbourne in Round 23.

ST KILDA
The bottom-placed team of 2014 only plays three of this year's finalists in the opening 14 rounds of next season and only once against each of the 2014 top four teams. Essendon is the only Top Eight team they face twice. St Kilda gets seven home games against Victorian teams but will travel eight times. The Saints' only Friday night game is away against Collingwood.

SYDNEY
This year's Grand Finalist will host games against Carlton, Richmond, Collingwood and Port Adelaide at the SCG, all of which should attract big crowds. Sydney will host Collingwood at the SCG for the first time since 2000 (the game had been played at ANZ Stadium since 2003). The Swans will play three of its opening four games against 2014 finalists. The club will only play five games in Victoria, including a trip to Geelong.

WEST COAST
West Coast only plays two of the 2014 finalists in the opening eight rounds with Fremantle the only Top Eight side that the Eagles will have to play twice. They will play four of the last five games of the season at home. On the negative side, the Eagles face six six day breaks including two in a row before the first bye. They also have two trips to Queensland and one to Hobart. They only play once at the MCG.

WESTERN BULLDOGS
The Bulldogs will play 13 games at Etihad Stadium and 13 games on a Saturday, compared to six this year. They will play two Sunday twilight games next year, down from six in 2014. The Bulldogs will only play five games against the Top Four teams of 2014 and only one top six side twice (Port Adelaide). They have six interstate trips, including their Round 15 home game against Gold Coast in Cairns, and will finish the regular season with three straight away games. The club will play Carlton only once in the year for the 13th season in a row.

Sources: afl.com.au, Herald Sun, The Age, abc.net.au, club websites

Article last changed on Tuesday, November 18, 2014 - 5:33 AM EST


Recent content

Partners

Worldfootynews.com

Our Favorite Footy Podcasts

A Yank on the Footy

 

Donnie's Disposal

 

Americans Watching the Footy

Shorten URLs

*

 

We Recommend:

ENJOY 40% OFF SITEWIDE!

  • The future of vitamins is here! Say goodbye to generic multivitamins cluttering your table top. 
  • With Vitable, you get personalized daily vitamin packs tailored to your unique diet, lifestyle and health needs.
  • All you need to do is complete a simple online quiz and unlock your expert recommendation. 
  • Join the 400,000+ people embracing the Vitable way with 40% OFF your first order
  • Use the promo code AFANA40 at checkout.