Blues hoping to breaking Origin record again
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Perth Now
7 hours ago
- Perth Now
‘Too many': Blowouts focus of AFL attention
AFL boss Andrew Dillon concedes there have been 'too many' lopsided games in 2025 but says lengthy injury lists and not fixture imbalances are to blame. But with the impending entry of a 19th team in Tasmania, the league chief executive said the view on fixturing would continue to 'evolve' with a focus on trying to avoid double-ups between inferior teams. While there were five matches decided by under 10 points in round 22, it was an outlier in an otherwise one-sided season. The previous week there were three matches with winning margins in excess of 80 points from the nine games and two 90-point margins the week before. Port Adelaide lost by a combined 186 points in rounds 21 and 22. The fight for finals also ended early and only one team outside the top eight remains a chance to break in by the final round. It has left a large number of no-meaning matches across the final two rounds, with three games between non-finalists in round 23 alone. The ongoing need to fixture two derbies in Perth, showdowns in Adelaide, Q-clashes in Queensland and clashes between Sydney and GWS remains a hurdle in a more balanced fixture. Dillon said it was hard to predict which teams would rise and fall, and Essendon's unprecedented injury battles in 2025 had unavoidable impacts on games. But Dillon said fixturing needed to be addressed as a potential way to balance out the competition going forward. 'It's nice to have nine trying to get into eight, but it would be better if it was 14/15 teams trying to get into finals,' he said. 'What you also have this year is three or four teams that weren't top eight last year like Adelaide and Gold Coast. As things move, it is difficult to predict. 'I'm finding it hard to predict what happens this weekend let alone trying to do it in October for next year. Andrew Dillon has blamed injuries for the blowouts. Credit: Morgan Hancock/AFL Photos / via Getty Images 'We need to continue to evolve. Whether that's having a formula to remove subjectivity, we will continue to assess. We have an opportunity in a couple of years with Tassie coming in to have a look at how the fixture is set and how the season runs. 'Our sport has stood the test of time. You want to evolve but you don't have to revolutionise at the same time. 'There is reasons for that. If you study injury lists, there is almost a direct correlation to where you are on the ladder. It's not where we want to be. 'We want a competition where you go to the game each week and you think you're a chance. We have had too many games this year that it wasn't the case.' Dillon also confirmed that players were 'all in' on a potential return for State of Origin next February. 'Absolutely (players are all in). as we saw with the All Stars game, it works when the players are all in. When the players are all in, then clubs are in and fans buy in,' he told SEN. 'Conversations I have had with the players they are all in. Then we work out how often we play it and when you play it. The first part is to get it going again. 'The clubs understand we have to continue to evolve as a competition. Some traditional thinking has to be modified but not to the detriment of home-and-away season and finals.'
Courier-Mail
12 hours ago
- Courier-Mail
AFL chief: Injuries not fixture to blame for 2025 season blowouts
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News. AFL boss Andrew Dillon concedes there have been 'too many' lopsided games in 2025 but says lengthy injury lists and not fixture imbalances are to blame. But with the impending entry of a 19th team in Tasmania, the league chief executive said the view on fixturing would continue to 'evolve' with a focus on trying to avoid double-ups between inferior teams. While there were five matches decided by under 10 points in round 22, it was an outlier in an otherwise one-sided season. The previous week there were three matches with winning margins in excess of 80 points from the nine games and two 90-point margins the week before. Port Adelaide lost by a combined 186 points in rounds 21 and 22. The fight for finals also ended early and only one team outside the top eight remains a chance to break in by the final round. Port Adelaide copped back-to-back thrashings. Picture:It has left a large number of no-meaning matches across the final two rounds, with three games between non-finalists in round 23 alone. The ongoing need to fixture two derbies in Perth, showdowns in Adelaide, Q-clashes in Queensland and clashes between Sydney and GWS remains a hurdle in a more balanced fixture. Dillon said it was hard to predict which teams would rise and fall, and Essendon's unprecedented injury battles in 2025 had unavoidable impacts on games. But Dillon said fixturing needed to be addressed as a potential way to balance out the competition going forward. 'It's nice to have nine trying to get into eight, but it would be better if it was 14/15 teams trying to get into finals,' he said. 'What you also have this year is three or four teams that weren't top eight last year like Adelaide and Gold Coast. As things move, it is difficult to predict. 'I'm finding it hard to predict what happens this weekend let alone trying to do it in October for next year. 'We need to continue to evolve. Whether that's having a formula to remove subjectivity, we will continue to assess. We have an opportunity in a couple of years with Tassie coming in to have a look at how the fixture is set and how the season runs. The Bombers have been decimated by injury. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images 'Our sport has stood the test of time. You want to evolve but you don't have to revolutionise at the same time. 'There is reasons for that. If you study injury lists, there is almost a direct correlation to where you are on the ladder. It's not where we want to be. 'We want a competition where you go to the game each week and you think you're a chance. We have had too many games this year that it wasn't the case.' Dillon also confirmed that players were 'all in' on a potential return for State of Origin next February. 'Absolutely (players are all in). as we saw with the All Stars game, it works when the players are all in. When the players are all in, then clubs are in and fans buy in,' he told SEN. 'Conversations I have had with the players they are all in. Then we work out how often we play it and when you play it. The first part is to get it going again. 'The clubs understand we have to continue to evolve as a competition. Some traditional thinking has to be modified but not to the detriment of home-and-away season and finals.' Originally published as AFL boss Andrew Dillon blames 2025 blowouts on injury lists
The Australian
2 days ago
- The Australian
State of Origin AFL: Players' teenage years to determine eligibility
AFL players have asked for a roadmap for the future of state-of-origin as they haggle for up to a third of the revenue generated from an annual state versus state series. It comes as league boss Andrew Dillon declared a player's place of birth would not be the qualifying rule for representation, with interstate-born footballers who were schooled in Victoria able to play for the Big V. The AFL's players are understood to be strongly in favour of playing a yearly representative series but also want strong guidelines around their participation and commitment to the contest. The AFL and WA state government are in talks for a February 14 clash next year between Victoria and a West Australian side after the success of the Indigenous All stars game. But rather than a single one off game the AFL is keen to return representative football to an annual event that could involve various states every year. Dillon confirmed the criteria for players to qualify for respective states would follow a historic trend. 'I think it will be about where you spent the most substantial part of your teenage years, which is what it has been historically,' he said. It could mean players who have grown up boarding at some of Victoria's football-heavy schools or moved during their adolescence would be eligible to represent the Big V. Under Dillon's clarification, the Queensland-born Ashcroft brothers – Will and Levi – would be eligible for Victoria having grown up in Melbourne's southeast. It will be upbringing over birthplace for next season's State of Origin. Picture: AAP Image/Michael Dodge Brisbane Lion Zac Bailey – born in Northern Territory but educated in South Australia – would also represent SA. Dillon said there would be an announcement confirming the matches and all the details surrounding them in the not-too-distant future. 'It's a conversation in progress with state governments and also our players and our clubs,' he said. 'I am really keen to see our best players on the ground at the same time. I think the All Stars game at the start of this year showed there's a real appetite for seeing that. 'Hopefully, there will be an announcement soon.' The collective bargaining agreement states that players are handed access to 31.7 per cent of all agreed revenue from the AFL as part of their pay deal. But this game is on top of that commitment so would require a separate agreement between the AFLPA and the league. That 31.7 per cent figure would be a rough starting point for the players to broker a deal to agree to play the series on top of their 23-game home-and-away series. The AFL has started negotiations with the AFLPA over the concept with forecast revenues a big part of that deal. Having a financial deal in place will also help players commit to the concept when clubs get cold feet in the weeks leading into the state of origin game. Some clubs were keen to manage game time for players for the Indigenous All stars game. But if players have a contract for the game they would give their all in a month when most players are timing their preparation for the home-and-away season to the limit. Tyler Lewis Sports reporter Tyler Lewis is a sports reporter based in Melbourne's south east. @tmlew_ Tyler Lewis
