Snubbed: Fallen giants Carlton and Essendon dumped from Seven's primetime slot
There was no surprise on Wednesday when the league confirmed it had scheduled the Bombers' clash with the Blues on the Thursday night of round 24 – but the match will not be shown on free-to-air TV despite Seven having the rights to the prized time slot.
The network wanted to show the best possible matches in the run to the finals, and the game between the two big Victorian clubs is a dead rubber. Instead, Seven has picked up the vital game between the Brisbane Lions and Hawthorn on the Sunday night, which could decide whether the Hawks qualify for September.
The Dons, though, will at least feature on Seven in the last game of the season against Gold Coast on Wednesday August 27. The Suns could be playing to secure a maiden finals appearance.
That match is effectively Seven's replacement game for the opening round game between Brisbane and Geelong that was postponed due to Cyclone Alfred. The Lions-Cats game was then moved to the Saturday of round three and broadcast by Foxtel – who have exclusive rights to Saturday games in Victoria.
The once unthinkable call not to show a primetime game between the Blues and the Bombers is indicative of how much the one-time powerhouse clubs are on the nose with the football public.
The AFL gambled on the pair still being in the finals hunt when it delivered the clubs four Thursday/Friday night games each from rounds 16-23 in the floating fixture – but that has backfired, resulting in a string of one-sided matches.
The Bombers and Blues were ninth and 10th respectively when the second phase of the fixture was released only to nosedive, winning just four games between them in that time.
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