{"id":611948,"date":"2026-04-17T01:46:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T01:46:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/611948\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T01:46:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T01:46:28","slug":"tasmanian-law-forces-start-time-change-for-essendon-versus-collingwood-anzac-day-game-hawthorn-versus-gold-coast-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/611948\/","title":{"rendered":"Tasmanian law forces start time change for Essendon versus Collingwood Anzac Day game; Hawthorn versus Gold Coast game"},"content":{"rendered":"

The AFL<\/a> has been forced to change the start time of two games, including their Anzac Day blockbuster clash between Collingwood<\/a> and Essendon<\/a>, due to a 97-year-old Tasmanian law.<\/p>\n

With Anzac Day falling on a Saturday this year, the AFL has scheduled four games across the day. <\/p>\n

The first of those will take place in Tasmania, between Hawthorn<\/a> and Gold Coast<\/a> and was scheduled to start at 12.15pm AEST.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Wife posts tribute as Crows prepare for game shrouded in grief<\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE: The $2m reason Power must defend Butters to the end<\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE: Weird and wonderful history of disbanded Super Rugby clubs<\/a><\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Bombers line up as part of the the Anzac Observance in 2025.\u00a0AFL Photos via Getty Images<\/p>\n

However, Tasmania’s Anzac Day Observance Act 1929 prevents any sporting events in the state on Anzac Day starting before 12.30pm.<\/p>\n

“Any event at sports to which this section applies and that are held on Anzac Day must not commence before 12.30pm,” the act reads.<\/p>\n

The act states any sporting body that breaks this law can be subject to fines.<\/p>\n

Because of this, the new start time for the Hawks vs. Suns has been pushed back to 12.30pm, with the opening bounce scheduled for 12.32pm.<\/p>\n

The flow-on effect means the Essendon-Collingwood MCG blockbuster will now start at 3.20pm, pushed back five minutes to minimise overlap.<\/p>\n

The AFL previously played games in Tassie on Anzac Day in 2021 and 2022, with both games scheduled to start at 12.30pm.<\/p>\n

However, the near-100-year-old legislation was clearly missed when putting together the 2026 fixture.<\/p>\n

In a statement, AFL head of scheduling Josh Bowler thanked the clubs, broadcasters and venues for accommodating the change.<\/p>\n

“Due to legislative requirements in Tasmania on Anzac Day we have adjusted the start time of the Hawthorn versus Gold Coast Suns match,” the AFL statement read.<\/p>\n

“Subsequently as a result of this change, to minimise the overlap between that match and the MCG match, we’ve further adjusted the start time to 3.20pm, previously 3.15pm.”<\/p>\n

\"Anzac<\/p>\n

An Anzac Day game in Tassie in 2022 between Geelong and North Melbourne.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

Over 92,000 fans turned up to the MCG for the Pies-Bombers clash in 2025. The game has drawn a crowd of more than 90,000 every season since 2023.<\/p>\n

Port Adelaide will host Geelong at 6.35pm and Fremantle hosts Carlton at 8.15pm to conclude what has become a marquee day on the AFL calendar.<\/p>\n

The start times of the night games have not been changed.<\/p>\n

Richmond and Melbourne will once again face off in the Anzac Day eve match, which falls on Friday night this year. <\/p>\n

While it has become another great tribute to the Anzacs, the timing this year means two struggling sides will face off in the primetime Friday night slot. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The AFL has been forced to change the start time of two games, including their Anzac Day blockbuster…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":611949,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-611948","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\/611948","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=611948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/611949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}