![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/9763c90e1f0dfd6a5f0115c5f79a56fd424c9372.png\")
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April 10, 2026 \u2014 2:58pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n South Australia would block the push for a full round of matches in Queensland and New South Wales to open the AFL season under any longer-term extension of Gather Round in Adelaide.<\/p>\n SA Premier Peter Malinauskas said the proposal to expand opening round in the northern states represented a material risk to his state\u2019s investment in Gather Round and he would insist on exclusivity for the concept in negotiations with the AFL.<\/p>\n Sydney chairman Andrew Pridham has proposed including all clubs in opening round in the future, turning it into a quasi version of Gather Round but earlier in the season, with games played in NSW and Queensland.<\/p>\n While Pridham argued it would be an obvious step for the league, Malinauskas dismissed the idea.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, how many people are going to turn up at the Greater Western Sydney stadium [if] Freo\u2019s playing Saint Kilda? There\u2019ll be 12 people in the crowd will turn up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a secret sauce to Gather Round because it\u2019s unique and different. If you try and replicate it in a way that\u2019s sort of half-pregnant, you\u2019re going to end up diminishing the real thing that\u2019s got a magic to it. And I think the AFL needs to think that through very carefully.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cI have accepted and supported opening round as a concept because of the strategic value that it represents, but to do it in a way that\u2019s sort of a half a Gather Round, I think that would represent a material risk that we would be very cognisant to deny ever happening in our contract negotiations that are underway.\u201d<\/p>\n Malinauskas and the AFL were hopeful a new contract to continue Gather Round would be finalised this weekend and announced on Sunday night.<\/p>\n \u201cIf something happens in the next 36 hours where a few concessions are made or whatever, it might be, then sure, maybe on Sunday night we get a big announcement. But I would not be doing anything to inflate expectations of that. There is a lot to work through. I\u2019d rather get this right than rush it.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone will be very happy, but unless it\u2019s right, we\u2019re not going to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n Malinauskas would also seek to include hosting a State of Origin game next year into the AFL negotiations.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve said this to Andrew (Dillon), so I don\u2019t mind saying it here, that I think we\u2019ve got more bargaining power and more leverage at the table from the state government\u2019s perspective now than what we did four years ago or three years ago when we negotiated the extension.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would be crazy if I didn\u2019t seek to manipulate that in our favour and see if there isn\u2019t an opportunity around State of Origin.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cNext year is the 150th anniversary of the SANFL. I think that\u2019s as good a time as any if we can pull it off.\u201d<\/p>\n The AFL is considering contingencies for future gather rounds when Tasmania joins the competition in 2028 as a 19th team, creating at least one bye per week in the fixture. One option would be to have Adelaide or Port Adelaide bookend Gather Round by playing two games in five days.<\/p>\n Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Patrick](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/b63d14e7bb28ccef131c65919576fc1960f60f18.jpeg\")
Patrick Cripps during Thursday night\u2019s Gather Round opener between Carlton and Adelaide.Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"South](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/8429fd44bdc45259cd330e09838a2d99ed3e269a52075f282a2b8f8c33054f42.jpeg\")
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Michael Gleeson<\/a> is an award-winning senior sports writer specialising in AFL and athletics.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"April 10, 2026 \u2014 2:58pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":597344,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-597343","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\/597343","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=597343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597343\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/597344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=597343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=597343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=597343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}