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ABC News
5 days ago
- Sport
- ABC News
Gold Coast Suns postponed game against Essendon scheduled for Wednesday night as round 24 fixtures drop
The Gold Coast Suns' bid for their maiden finals appearance could go down to the last Wednesday in August. The AFL has released its round 24 fixture, including the postponed game between the Suns and Essendon that was unable to be played in Opening Round due to Cyclone Alfred. That extra game will now be played during what is a pre-finals bye week for the other top eight sides, scheduled for a 7:20pm bounce at Carrara Stadium on Wednesday August 27. The Suns are one of a number of sides battling for the final spots in the top eight, and there is every chance that match will determine their fate. Essendon and Gold Coast's round 24 games against Carlton and Port Adelaide will be played on Thursday night and Friday night respectively. Two other crucial round 24 games have been scheduled for the last Sunday of the home-and-away season. The Western Bulldogs play Fremantle at Docklands at 3:15pm on August 24, while Brisbane hosts Hawthorn at the Gabba at 7:20pm that night. The results of those two games are also likely to have a massive say in the final make-up of the top eight. "Round 24 is set to deliver an exciting finish to the home and away season, with several matches likely to influence the final eight," AFL head of strategy and scheduling Josh Bowler said. "The round will start on Thursday night and finish the following Wednesday to provide the Gold Coast Suns and Essendon sufficient days' break between matches, with their rescheduled Opening Round match being played during round 24, in addition to their respective clashes against Carlton and Port Adelaide. "To avoid a clash between the Western Bulldogs' round 24 AFL match and their round two AFLW match, we have also adjusted the start time of the AFLW match between Richmond and the Western Bulldogs on Sunday, 24 August, and subsequently the AFLW match between Essendon and the West Coast Eagles. "The revised start times give Bulldogs fans the opportunity to watch both their club's teams play on the same day, and we thank everyone involved in working through these changes." * All times AEST
News.com.au
30-05-2025
- General
- News.com.au
AFLW players again miss out on chance to play at big venues after 2025 fixture release
No double-headers with AFL games, no matches at the MCG or Marvel Stadium, the SCG, Adelaide Oval or the Gabba. The 12-week AFLW season will again be played at smaller venues but in more traditional timeslots in 2025 after the full fixture was revealed on Friday. There will be no Tuesday or Wednesday games, as included in last year's heavily criticised compressed fixture, but the walk-back from officials on linking up with men's matches across the final two home and away rounds was a fixture shock. Last month, AFLW general manager, Emma Moore said a 'one-club, two-team approach' would present opportunities for double-headers. 'One of the things we're focusing on is optimising what we can do in terms of the crossover of the women's and men's competition and clearly double-headers are part of that conversation and analysis we're doing,' Moore said. But there are none, and instead the AFLW has given itself flexibility with start times to ensure clubs who have men's teams in the finals don't play at the same time. The season will open on Thursday, August 14, with two games, including a clash between Carlton and Collingwood. There will again be a glut of matches on the eve of the men's grand final, with four matches on the Friday, then another four on the Sunday. AFL head of strategy and scheduling Josh Bowler said the fixture aimed to build rivalries and attendance. 'As we head into the 10th season of the NAB AFLW competition, it is important to recognise the moments and match-ups in the game that have helped shape the league so far while also nurturing the emerging rivalries and making it easy and accessible for fans to attend,' Bowler said. 'The fixture is always a complex jigsaw to piece together and I'd like to thank all stakeholders including club representatives, senior coaches, our broadcast partners, the AFLPA and our team who have all worked incredibly hard to produce a fixture that enables fans to form even stronger connections with their team.' Rather than play at Marvel Stadium or the MCG, games will again be played at AFL training bases, including Moorabbin, the Whitten Oval and Alberton Oval as well as Norwood. Hawthorn will also play in Cairns, the Kangaroos in Tasmania, while Geelong will play at GMHBA Stadium and the Gold Coast at People First Stadium, both AFL venues. Bowler said the flexible timing for some games would come in to play 'if one club's AFL and AFLW match windows are within one hour of overlapping'. 'Further to that, if a club is hosting two home games over one weekend, these will fall on different days to ensure the club can operationally deliver the best possible match-day experience for fans across two venues,' he said. The season will end with a floating fixture in round 12, with game times to be determined at a later stage in order to set up the finals.
ABC News
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
AFLW launches season fixture list, with Carlton-Collingwood and West Coast-Gold Coast on opening night
Daisy Pearce's West Coast side will host Gold Coast on the opening night of the AFLW season, while premiers North Melbourne will begin its title defence away to Geelong. The Eagles-Suns clash, confirmed in Friday's fixture release, immediately follows the previously announced season opener between traditional foes Carlton and Collingwood on Thursday, August 14. It is the first time the AFLW season will start during the AFL home-and-away campaign, coinciding with the final two rounds of the men's competition. Also in round one, old rivals Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs will do battle for the Hampson-Hardeman Cup, and GWS host Essendon in the first-ever meeting between the sides. Brisbane will take on North Melbourne in round five, in their first encounter since the Kangaroos' breakthrough grand-final triumph under Darren Crocker last year. AFLW fixtures boss Josh Bowler said the league was looking to celebrate iconic moments, grow rivalries and create traditions with this season's fixture. "It is important to recognise the moments and match-ups in the game that have helped shape the league so far, while also nurturing the emerging rivalries and making it easy and accessible for fans to attend," Bowler said. Geelong's Kardinia Park is the only major AFL venue where AFLW matches will be played in 2025. None have been scheduled at premier venues in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth or Adelaide. Unpopular mid-week fixtures have been dropped in 2025, except for Thursday night features in rounds one, seven and eight, with the latter two falling either side of the AFL grand final. The fixture change has been partially based on last season's ladder, divided into three groups of six, and is weighted towards ensuring more match-ups within each group. AFLW's two major themed rounds will both be played over two weeks; Indigenous Round in rounds three and four and Pride Round across rounds nine and 10. Intrastate rivalries are littered throughout the fixture, starting in round five when Fremantle host West Coast at the port. Sydney and GWS clash in round six, Gold Coast take on Brisbane in round eight and Adelaide do battle with Port Adelaide in round 11. The schedule for the final round of the home-and-away season has been left floating, to be confirmed closer to the date. AFLW grand final hosting rights will fall to the highest-ranked preliminary final winner. AAP
Irish Examiner
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Dara Moynihan makes welcome return as Kerins O'Rahilly's joins Austin Stacks on Kerry SFL summit
ON THE day water breaks returned to Kerry club football, Kerins O'Rahilly's moved level on top of the county's SFL Division 1 with Tralee neighbours Austin Stacks with a hard-earned win over Killarney Legion while the Rock were losing to Spa. O'Rahillys closed out a 1-15 to 0-15 win over Legion in Strand Road but never were comfortable and trailed 0-7 to 0-2 after the opening quarter with Ryan O'Grady, David O'Sullivan and Josh Bowler doing the bulk of the visitor's scoring. Darragh O'Connor and Jack Savage were keeping the Strand Road side in touch, before a Conor Hayes goal for O'Rahillys saw them back in the game. Ryan O'Grady and Gearoid Dillane swapped points as Legion retired 0-8 to 1-4 in front at half time. Points from Hayes, Darragh O'Connor and a two pointer from Jack Savage saw the Tralee side move three clear and they maintained their advantage to the end despite the efforts of young Josh Bowler and Ryan O'Grady. Stacks had the opportunity to go two points clear at the top but struggling Spa - with only a win and two draws so far in the league - caused an upset when they ended Stacks unbeaten league run, 2-16 to 1-17. Spa were always on top and though Stacks levelled on a number of occasions, crucially they never led. Dara Moynihan lined out with Spa for his first outing since last year's Club Championship in August, and the sides were level 0-5 to 1-2 after 17 minutes, Colm Browne with the Stacks goal. Ciaran Spillane and Shane O'Callaghan again swapped points with Kerry panelist Armin Heinrich being prominent for the Tralee side. Evan Cronin restored Spa's lead with a two point free and another two pointer from Cian Tobin gave Spa a 0-10 to 1-6 lead at the interval. They moved three clear thanks to points from Tobin and Spillane and by the 40th minute it was 0-13 to 1-7. Heinrich was withdrawn a minute later and points by Greg Horan and Adam Curran meant it was a one point game ( 0-14 to 1-10) at the second water break. An Evan Cronin goal appeared to give Spa breathing space but a Ferdia O'Brien two pointer and a Ryan O'Driscoll levelled the contest again at 1-15 apiece with five left. Michael Foley restored Spa's lead as Stacks wasted a couple of gilt-edged chances and it proved costly when Luke O'Neill finished a searing run with low shot to the Stacks net. Ferdia O'Brien and O'Driscoll cut the deficit to two but they were denied the win when Shay O'Meara saved on the line in the final seconds. Dr Crokes are going nowhere as they move into joint second place with Legion following a facile 2-18 to 0-6 against a disappointing Laune Rangers side. Rangers actually led 0-2 to 0-1 after four minutes but it sadly went downhill after that for Killorglin side after that. A Mikey Casey goal saw Crokes retire 1-8 to 0-5 at half time. Laune Rangers only added a single point in the second half as Crokes' well-oiled machine added 1-12 with Billy Courtney and David Shaw adding two points each, Alex Hennigan added three, Gavin O'Shea also brought his game tally to 0-3 before Cian McMahon scored a cracking goal but it was all too easy. Glenflesk had a big win over neighbours Rathmore who introduced Paul Murphy, but he could not stem the Glenflesk goal rush as they won 5-11 to 0-17. Cian Lynch, Ian Roche and Darragh Roche got the first half goals as they led 3-2 to 0-7 at half time with Ciaran Collins and Mark Reen contributing 0-3 each. Rathmore closed the gap to three points on two occasions, but was Jamie Moynihan and Callum Cronin finished Rathmore off with second half goals.
The Advertiser
15-05-2025
- Sport
- The Advertiser
New AFL fixture gives Bulldogs chance to shine
The Western Bulldogs will feature prominently on the big stage late in the AFL home and away season, given a strong hand of prime-time fixtures. The Bulldogs, who sit sixth after nine rounds, have been rewarded for their impressive start to the year in the fixture for rounds 16-23, which was released by the AFL on Thursday. Luke Beveridge's side have been dealt two Thursday and three Friday night matches across the eight rounds. Carlton, Essendon and GWS - all firmly in the finals mix at this stage - each have four fixtures in the marquee slots. Brisbane, Collingwood and Hawthorn have three each, while Melbourne and Richmond are the only clubs who have none. There are three Friday night double-headers scheduled across the eight weeks; in rounds 17, 20 and 23. "This back end of the season fixture is aimed at maximising momentum into the finals which is shaping up to be one of the tightest races in recent history," AFL scheduling boss Josh Bowler said. "We are excited to schedule a number of Friday night double headers aimed at maximising prime-time audience whilst also managing team travel and breaks between games." Thursday night football will be played every week across the eight rounds except for round 23, with August 14 left alone as clear air for the AFLW season opener. Round 20 is littered with derbies as all non-Victorian clubs face off against their local rivals, starting with Sydney's Giants-Swans clash on a Friday night. The schedule for round 24 will not be confirmed until later in the year. One of the Bulldogs' Thursday night fixtures is North Melbourne's AFL/VFL centenary match at Marvel Stadium in round 17. The celebration was originally scheduled for round 20 - when the Kangaroos host their first-ever VFL opponents Geelong - but was moved to allow it to be a standalone fixture. The Bulldogs-Adelaide fixture in round 18 has been moved from Ballarat's Mars Stadium to the league-owned Marvel Stadium to allow for a bigger attendance. Ongoing construction works at Mars Stadium have lowered the venue's capacity to about half the usual 11,000. Only 4814 fans were inside the ground to see the Bulldogs' 90-point thrashing of Port Adelaide earlier this month. Another Bulldogs match will be moved to Mars Stadium once the redevelopment is complete. The Western Bulldogs will feature prominently on the big stage late in the AFL home and away season, given a strong hand of prime-time fixtures. The Bulldogs, who sit sixth after nine rounds, have been rewarded for their impressive start to the year in the fixture for rounds 16-23, which was released by the AFL on Thursday. Luke Beveridge's side have been dealt two Thursday and three Friday night matches across the eight rounds. Carlton, Essendon and GWS - all firmly in the finals mix at this stage - each have four fixtures in the marquee slots. Brisbane, Collingwood and Hawthorn have three each, while Melbourne and Richmond are the only clubs who have none. There are three Friday night double-headers scheduled across the eight weeks; in rounds 17, 20 and 23. "This back end of the season fixture is aimed at maximising momentum into the finals which is shaping up to be one of the tightest races in recent history," AFL scheduling boss Josh Bowler said. "We are excited to schedule a number of Friday night double headers aimed at maximising prime-time audience whilst also managing team travel and breaks between games." Thursday night football will be played every week across the eight rounds except for round 23, with August 14 left alone as clear air for the AFLW season opener. Round 20 is littered with derbies as all non-Victorian clubs face off against their local rivals, starting with Sydney's Giants-Swans clash on a Friday night. The schedule for round 24 will not be confirmed until later in the year. One of the Bulldogs' Thursday night fixtures is North Melbourne's AFL/VFL centenary match at Marvel Stadium in round 17. The celebration was originally scheduled for round 20 - when the Kangaroos host their first-ever VFL opponents Geelong - but was moved to allow it to be a standalone fixture. The Bulldogs-Adelaide fixture in round 18 has been moved from Ballarat's Mars Stadium to the league-owned Marvel Stadium to allow for a bigger attendance. Ongoing construction works at Mars Stadium have lowered the venue's capacity to about half the usual 11,000. Only 4814 fans were inside the ground to see the Bulldogs' 90-point thrashing of Port Adelaide earlier this month. Another Bulldogs match will be moved to Mars Stadium once the redevelopment is complete. The Western Bulldogs will feature prominently on the big stage late in the AFL home and away season, given a strong hand of prime-time fixtures. The Bulldogs, who sit sixth after nine rounds, have been rewarded for their impressive start to the year in the fixture for rounds 16-23, which was released by the AFL on Thursday. Luke Beveridge's side have been dealt two Thursday and three Friday night matches across the eight rounds. Carlton, Essendon and GWS - all firmly in the finals mix at this stage - each have four fixtures in the marquee slots. Brisbane, Collingwood and Hawthorn have three each, while Melbourne and Richmond are the only clubs who have none. There are three Friday night double-headers scheduled across the eight weeks; in rounds 17, 20 and 23. "This back end of the season fixture is aimed at maximising momentum into the finals which is shaping up to be one of the tightest races in recent history," AFL scheduling boss Josh Bowler said. "We are excited to schedule a number of Friday night double headers aimed at maximising prime-time audience whilst also managing team travel and breaks between games." Thursday night football will be played every week across the eight rounds except for round 23, with August 14 left alone as clear air for the AFLW season opener. Round 20 is littered with derbies as all non-Victorian clubs face off against their local rivals, starting with Sydney's Giants-Swans clash on a Friday night. The schedule for round 24 will not be confirmed until later in the year. One of the Bulldogs' Thursday night fixtures is North Melbourne's AFL/VFL centenary match at Marvel Stadium in round 17. The celebration was originally scheduled for round 20 - when the Kangaroos host their first-ever VFL opponents Geelong - but was moved to allow it to be a standalone fixture. The Bulldogs-Adelaide fixture in round 18 has been moved from Ballarat's Mars Stadium to the league-owned Marvel Stadium to allow for a bigger attendance. Ongoing construction works at Mars Stadium have lowered the venue's capacity to about half the usual 11,000. Only 4814 fans were inside the ground to see the Bulldogs' 90-point thrashing of Port Adelaide earlier this month. Another Bulldogs match will be moved to Mars Stadium once the redevelopment is complete.
