{"id":516776,"date":"2026-03-03T21:33:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T21:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/516776\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T21:33:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T21:33:10","slug":"league-set-to-revisit-start-time-of-grand-final-new-commission-chair-craig-drummond-impacts-of-marriage-breakdown-on-lachie-neale-brisbane-lions-afl-360-latest-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/516776\/","title":{"rendered":"League set to revisit start time of Grand Final, new Commission chair Craig Drummond, impacts of marriage breakdown on Lachie Neale, Brisbane Lions, AFL 360, latest news"},"content":{"rendered":"

The AFL\u2019s long-running debate over the annual Grand Final time slot is set to resurface yet again in 2026, with the league\u2019s new chairman set to oversee discussions on whether the decider remains a daytime fixture, or shifts to later on the last Saturday of September.<\/p>\n

The Age<\/a> reported on Tuesday evening<\/a> that Craig Drummond is expected to address the issue promptly, with a view to reaching a decision early rather than allowing the matter to linger deep into the season.<\/p>\n

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Taking input from chief executive Andrew Dillon and the AFL executive, the former Geelong Cats president in Drummond will weigh up a potential shift away from the traditional 2.30pm start.<\/p>\n

While the prospect of increased television audiences is no doubt a very attractive one for the league to keep reconsidering each year, it would go against the sentiment of fans, who have consistently backed the afternoon Grand Final in league surveys.<\/p>\n

Drummond\u2019s appointment as successor to Richard Goyder is set to be ratified by clubs and the Commission on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

If the league does move away from the afternoon, a twilight fixture \u2014 similar to the 2021 Grand Final in Perth, which aired in prime time in the eastern states \u2014 has long been viewed as the more likely alternative, in part due to the time required for presentations and post-match celebrations.<\/p>\n

Neale wants to stay in Brisbane! | 01:32<\/p>\n

\u2018MOVED ON\u2019: LIONS TIPPED TO DEAL SWIFTLY WITH NEALE\u2019S OFF-FIELD ISSUES<\/p>\n

As the back-to-back reigning premiers in Brisbane prepare to begin the defence of their crown for a second straight year, intrigue remains over the return to the field of two-time Brownlow Medallist Lachie Neale.<\/p>\n

The 32-year-old confirmed on January 2 this year he would step down from his co-captaincy role<\/a> at the Lions, after he and ex-partner Jules \u201cseparated\u201d as a result of him \u201cletting his family down\u201d.<\/p>\n

His departure from the role now sees the Lions adopt an unprecedented three-person co-captaincy, with Harris Andrews this year joined by Josh Dunkley and Hugh McCluggage.<\/p>\n

Chris Fagan\u2019s side has proven an unflappable force in recent times, with AFL 360\u2019s Garry Lyon expecting that to remain the case despite Neale\u2019s off-field issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard for us to know, but the bottom line is, it will affect some players more than it will others. Then, there\u2019s the element on how it will affect Lachie and his footy,\u201d Lyon said on Tuesday night to Fox Footy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019ll deal with it, and continue to play at the standard that we expect … that man there I think will handle the football side of the fight. <\/p>\n

\u201cThen, it\u2019s for the rest of his teammates to be able to separate what goes on at the football field, and then what goes on outside of it. For some, the older players I would imagine, would have partners and relationships with Lachie\u2019s ex-partner \u2014 that is when it becomes an issue that they\u2019ve got to get it on the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re a really good footy club, they will have dealt with it by now and moved on. I think this is a footy club that will handle it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The AFL\u2019s long-running debate over the annual Grand Final time slot is set to resurface yet again in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":516777,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-516776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=516776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516776\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/516777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=516776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=516776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=516776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}