{"id":131082,"date":"2025-09-09T20:44:19","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T20:44:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/131082\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T20:44:19","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T20:44:19","slug":"afl-wildcard-round-set-to-force-rule-change-as-concerns-emerge-about-clubs-resting-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/131082\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL \u2018wildcard\u2019 round set to force rule change as concerns emerge about clubs resting players"},"content":{"rendered":"

The AFL<\/a> has suddenly found itself working through complications with the proposed changes to the finals system<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The league is keen to present the concept of \u2018wildcard round\u2019 to the AFL Commission<\/a> in a fortnight but there are now concerns about teams ranked seventh to 10th (who cannot move positions in the final round) potentially resting players en masse.<\/p>\n

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: AFL\u2019s proposed \u2018wildcard round\u2019 to force rule change.<\/p>\n

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today \"Download<\/a><\/p>\n

Ross Lyon, when coaching Fremantle, once rested 11 players ahead of a qualifying final in 2015, and the league doesn\u2019t want to see a repeat of such tactics as teams enter the wildcard round.<\/p>\n

As a result, it now seems that the AFL will place limits on how many players a club can drop for crucial matches.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt looked over the line, but there were talks late yesterday (Monday) at the AFL and there is one serious snag that the AFL are trying to work through before they put this proposal goes to the Commission in a couple of weeks on Brownlow Day,\u201d veteran AFL journalist Caroline Wilson said on Channel 7\u2019s The Agenda Setters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo this snag involves what happens when you have teams from seventh to 10th who on the eve of the final round can\u2019t move.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can\u2019t move higher than seventh, they can\u2019t move lower than 10th. Are they going to do what Ross Lyon did in 2015 with his Fremantle team? Are they going to do what Brad Scott did in 2015 with his North Melbourne team?<\/p>\n

\u201cBearing in mind, that only a couple of weeks ago Penrith going for their, I think, fifth successive flag rested something like 16 players on their penultimate home and away round of the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s a real dilemma and they don\u2019t want this happening, teams dropping players, etc, on the second last round of the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo what they\u2019re looking at doing, and this is fascinating to me because I think they should have looked at it, the Gillon McLachlan administration, back in 2016 when they introduced the pre-finals bye.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re actually looking at mandating the amount of players a team can drop going into a big game.\u201d<\/p>\n

7NEWS chief AFL reporter Mitch Cleary wondered how the league would be able to make that call without suggesting the club is lying.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs there any way they can do that, though? Because players and clubs will be able to find ways around this. Is a player actually injured? Are they not? Are they going to be able to physically do that?\u201d Cleary asked.<\/p>\n

Wilson said both both Fremantle and North Melbourne were honest about it at the time and the strategy paid off.<\/p>\n

\u201c(But) I think there is a way you could say maybe no more than six players or no more than four players (can be rested in one go),\u201d Wilson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I think they\u2019re looking at seriously doing that before they introduce (the wildcard round).<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a fascinating conundrum for Andrew Dillon and Greg Swann and their team before they go to the commission.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson also said that there were other \u201cinteresting fixture decisions\u201d on the horizon with a game set to be played in Melbourne in Opening Round (where the games have so far been exclusively played in the New South Wales and Queensland).<\/p>\n

\u201cMy understanding is it\u2019s going to be on Sunday night, probably at the MCG, and almost certainly involving the Collingwood Football Club.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cleary said Collingwood were so far the only Victorian team that had made the trip north for both Opening Round fixtures and they have been \u201cstrong\u201d in their opposition to going again next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Pies, via (CEO) Craig Kelly, have come out and said, on record, they do not want to be travelling again for a third time,\u201d Cleary said.<\/p>\n

Wilson said in the new-look Opening Round for 2026 there would \u201cdefinitely be two games in Queensland\u201d and there would still be two in Sydney (hosted by Sydney and GWS).<\/p>\n

Stream The Agenda Setters for free, live or on-demand, anytime at 7plus<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe game in Melbourne will be an all-Victorian game on the eve of the Monday Labour Day holiday,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy belief it will be the only other game in opening round. And St Kilda, in the coming days, are going to put forward a fascinating proposal to the AFL.<\/p>\n

\u201cSt Kilda want to declare this, their annual Spuds game. Today, being actually the anniversary of the late, great Danny Frawley\u2019s death, Spuds game will be played on the Sunday night. They want to play against Collingwood.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be also the 60th anniversary year of their only premiership victory over the Collingwood Football Club (a famous one-point win).<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I think the club see it as a perfect opportunity to launch a documentary that they\u2019re making at the moment, that they started making after the re-signing of Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera … so it\u2019s going to be a really interesting proposal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s St Kilda\u2019s one big fixture request for 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Wilson also revealed the Western Bulldogs also wanted to play Collingwood in the re-imagined Opening Round and so did Melbourne.<\/p>\n

Cleary said: \u201cIt\u2019s a line-up.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

AFL under fire for lack of action on Collingwood leaders<\/p>\n

3 min read<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Melbourne make savage delisting call with five players axed<\/p>\n

1 min read<\/p>\n

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