{"id":570698,"date":"2026-03-28T20:58:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T20:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/570698\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T20:58:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T20:58:16","slug":"afl-2026-fuel-shortage-could-affect-afl-season-hubs-gather-round","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/570698\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL 2026: Fuel shortage could affect AFL season, hubs, Gather Round"},"content":{"rendered":"

The AFL season could be affected by the ongoing fuel shortage felt across the country amid fears that sporting competitions may be impacted.<\/p>\n

Fuel prices for petrol and diesel have skyrocketed in Australia as a result of supply chain disruptions brought on by the Iran conflict. <\/p>\n

Watch every match of every round of the Premiership Season LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n

Footy commentator Kelli Underwood reported on Friday that the issue was mentioned during a meeting of the AFL club chief executives during the week.<\/p>\n

The ABC\u2019s Ben Cameron wrote on X: \u201cKelli Underwood reporting on @abcsport that the fuel shortage was raised in the CEO\u2019s meeting earlier this week. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf rationing comes in a flying is restricted where does that leave the competition? Kelli says the GWS Giants told her today it was an issue on their radar.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe dirty word mentioned amongst it all was hubs.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are concerns that if the fuel shortage continues, the federal government could enforce travel restrictions, including on air travel. <\/p>\n

The AFL is a national competition with teams in Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane, and the Gold Coast. <\/p>\n

A handful of other games AFL are scheduled to be played in Tasmania, Darwin and Alice Springs this year.<\/p>\n

The prospect of an altered fixture of the return of hubs brings back memories of the Covid-affected 2020 season where clubs relocated to southeast Queensland.<\/p>\n

All 18 teams will converge on Adelaide on April 9-12 for Gather Round.<\/p>\n

The annual footy convention has proved to be a major hit in its three years so far, but there is the possibility some fans may not make the trip from Melbourne to Adelaide because of the cost of petrol.<\/p>\n

AFL Fans Association Ron Issko told the ABC<\/a>: \u201cI\u2019m wondering whether or not, as we get closer, and if the fuel prices continue to go up, some will bail.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhich is a pity because I\u2019ve been lucky enough to go to two Gather Rounds, and let me tell you, you guys in Adelaide, you do a magnificent job with Gather Round. It\u2019s a great thing to go to.\u201d<\/p>\n

SA Premier Peter Malinauskas said around 20,000 people make the drive from Victoria to South Australia for Gather Round.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to make sure that there\u2019s no question in those motorists\u2019 minds around supply,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ll be able to fill up their car with petrol just as they have in previous years.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we would make clear to motorists that this is not a concern that they need to factor in.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand that the price is higher, and that has implications, but we are still expecting very big crowds to Gather Round.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Roos<\/p>\n

The AFL\u2019s official airline partner is Virgin Australia.<\/p>\n

This week, Qantas announced Jetstar will cut some of its critical New Zealand flights, citing a rise in the cost of jet fuel.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced Australia will underwrite the delivery of additional cargoes of fuel to Australia in the biggest intervention to date to boost supply and ease shortages.<\/p>\n

Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the latest figures suggested Australia had 39 days of fuel in stockpiles and 30 days of diesel – despite regional shortages.<\/p>\n

News.com.au revealed on Friday that the PM is war-gaming multiple options, including a bombshell temporary cut in fuel excise and plans to develop a national dashboard revealing where the shortages are located.<\/p>\n

Originally published as \u2018Dirty word\u2019: AFL season could be affected by fuel shortage<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The AFL season could be affected by the ongoing fuel shortage felt across the country amid fears that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":570699,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-570698","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\/570698","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=570698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570698\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/570699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=570698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=570698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=570698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}