Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd has joined those heaping pressure on the AFL, calling out the complicated fixture issues created by Opening Round.
Opening Round was introduced by new AFL chief Andrew Dillon in 2024, with the aim of playing four blockbuster games in Queensland and New South Wales to kick off the season, taking the game to those markets particularly while the NRL focuses on Las Vegas.
Oddly, the games do not take place in the same weekend the NRL is in Vegas and now multiple clubs have expressed their frustration at the flow-on effects the split start has caused.
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AFL CEO Andrew Dillon in Sydney for Opening Round. via Getty Images
With only half the league playing in Opening Round, and every team playing in round one, it causes a four-week stretch of bye rounds in the opening six weeks of the season, and throws the ladder into chaos.
On top of that, it also means the season is now starting at the beginning of March, as much as three weeks earlier than it used to in the 2010s.
That earlier start has been linked with a spate of soft tissue injuries to start the season, given the pre-season is now shorter than ever and the game is getting faster with the ongoing rule changes.
The AFL added a game in Victoria to Opening Round this year, with St Kilda facing Collingwood, a move that was publicly criticised by GWS, who felt the decision took the focus off New South Wales and Queensland.
Lloyd’s frustration comes from the added bye rounds, however.
He feels the competition loses momentum in the middle of the season due to the existing bye rounds and says now the same is happening at the start of the year as well.
Matthew Lloyd and Dustin Fletcher, Essendon legends. Â AFL Photos via Getty Images
“I think they have got (the fixture) wrong. The spin-offs and the ramifications are worse, I think,” Lloyd told Nine’s The Sunday Footy Show.
“It’s huge for the Giants and these clubs and what it does for them, but I think the flattest part of the year is mid-season. We have four teams not playing rounds 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 and now we’re doing the same in rounds two, three and four.
“When we should be as excited about our teams, we’re just not. Carlton, Collingwood and Geelong not playing (in round two).
“In the past, Collingwood and Sydney would play a blockbuster on a Saturday night. Every other team had the weekend off.
“I just think we could stagger our byes better than having eight to 10 weeks of the season with a lot of teams not playing.”
Nine of the 25 weeks of the season now feature byes.
The Age’s Sam McClure reported before round two that numerous clubs expressed their frustration with Opening Round during a meeting with Dillon.
Players wrestle during the opening round AFL match between Sydney Swans and Carlton Blues. via Getty Images
However, the AFL is more likely to expand Opening Round to include potentially all 18 teams, rather than bin the concept.
It is unclear why it simply wouldn’t be rebranded back to ’round one’ at that point.
Also unclear is why the AFL won’t simply start the season with all nine games, and feature four blockbusters in New South Wales and Queensland as part of that.
They would argue it dilutes the attention away from those games.
Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick was asked about Opening Round following his side’s win over Richmond, saying it was a necessary pill for the league to swallow.
“I can understand the frustration of fans, but two thirds of Australia’s population is in the northern states and we want to grow the game. We want more kids playing the game. We want to improve the talent in the game,” Hardwick said.
“So sometimes it’s with a greater good of the game hat that we have to look at.”
Speaking after round one, Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir directly called out the league, saying teams who played in Opening Round received an unfair advantage over those that did not.
“I think anyone who has been around football would realise this is an advantage,” Longmuir told reporters.
“We should all start the season the same way. There should be no competitive advantage in teams having played a game before they play another team.
“It just makes so much sense to people in the industry. We’ve just got it wrong.”
West Coast premiership coach Adam Simpson. Â Getty
Much of the disgruntlement surrounding Opening Round has come out of Western Australia and South Australia. Neither state featured in effectively the first two weeks of the season, due to venue availability caused by the early March start.
Former West Coast coach Adam Simpson has urged the AFL not to neglect its home turf, while it attempts to grow the game in enemy territory.
“You’ve just got to be careful with South Australia and Western Australia. They just take them for granted, assuming they’ll turn up. They assume the supporter base will always be there,” Simpson told SEN on Saturday.
“I’m telling you now that the youth numbers at junior football is shrinking by the year in WA. I’ve got first hand examples of my son playing. There’s four teams in under 12s, then there’s three, then two and now the club’s not there.
“You’ve just got to keep an eye on where your bread is buttered. I know Opening Round is just one week, but don’t fully neglect.
“Just try and look after everyone and put focus on the northern states, but not at the detriment of the homeland states.”
The AFL will need to sort out its bye structures before Tasmania enters the competition in 2028.
With 19 teams, someone will be on bye every week, further complicating the fixture.