Season 2018

[Eat_em_Alive]

We will have a tough draw next year all top 5 teams x2

True and so we should

We are the Premiers 

For some reason emoticons don't work on my pc  ut id hit the clapping hands x 7


 

W E  A R E   P R E M I E R S ! ! ! !

Thanks '65

[one-eyed]

The 2018 draw will be released very shortly.

We'll get return games against 2-3 of the other top 6 which are all non-Melbourne teams; 1-2 against the middle six; and 0-1 against the bottom 6 sides.

    Top 6               Middle 6              Bottom 6
--------------     ----------------       ---------------
Adelaide             Port Adelaide        Collingwood
Geelong               Essendon             Fremantle
GWS                   Melbourne           North Melb.
Sydney               W.Bulldogs             Carlton
West Coast           St Kilda              Gold Coast
                          Hawthorn              Brisbane

[Eat_em_Alive]

The 2018 draw will be released very shortly.

We'll get return games against 2-3 of the other top 6 which are all non-Melbourne teams; 1-2 against the middle six; and 0-1 against the bottom 6 sides.

    Top 6               Middle 6              Bottom 6
--------------     ----------------       ---------------
Adelaide             Port Adelaide        Collingwood
Geelong               Essendon             Fremantle
GWS                   Melbourne           North Melb.
Sydney               W.Bulldogs             Carlton
West Coast           St Kilda              Gold Coast
                          Hawthorn              Brisbane

I think it will be return games against:

Adelaide
Geelong
GWS
Essendon
Collingwood

[WilliamPowell]

Draw is released on 30 October

[Slipper]

I think it will be return games against:

Adelaide
Geelong
GWS
Essendon
Collingwood

I'd reckon that is pretty close to the money.

AFL will be desperate to prop up GWS by giving them high drawing interstate teams, and they will not come much higher next season than Richmond as reigning premiers.

Collingwood and Essendon are certainties to maximise crowd numbers. Maybe Carlton in the mix.

Adelaide only because we smacked them in the grandfinal, so there will be a fair bit of interest in two rematches.

And Geelong because the AFL will feel they owe them for their home finals being played at the MCG.


I also reckon we might find ourselves playing an away game in Tassie next year. Lot of support for the Tigers down there.

[Eat_em_Alive]

I think it will be return games against:

Adelaide
Geelong
GWS
Essendon
Collingwood

I'd reckon that is pretty close to the money.

AFL will be desperate to prop up GWS by giving them high drawing interstate teams, and they will not come much higher next season than Richmond as reigning premiers.

Collingwood and Essendon are certainties to maximise crowd numbers. Maybe Carlton in the mix.

Adelaide only because we smacked them in the grandfinal, so there will be a fair bit of interest in two rematches.

And Geelong because the AFL will feel they owe them for their home finals being played at the MCG.


I also reckon we might find ourselves playing an away game in Tassie next year. Lot of support for the Tigers down there.

My thoughts are based on them maximising crowd attendances whilst fulfilling the quota for their 17-5 / 6-6-6 system.

Only variance I can see is logistical issues or clashing with other fixtures and us having a return game against say saints or using us to draw a crowd against n0rf in Tassie.

[Francois Jackson]

we need MT to give us his annual phantom draw.

I will start

1. Carlton V Richmond

Fair to say that should we draw cats, both our legs  will be at Etihad and MCG. 

[one-eyed]

AFL Fixture 2018: Draw difficulty hits Richmond, rewards West Coast, Sydney, Adelaide

Chris Cavanagh,
Herald Sun
23 October 2017

INTERSTATE clubs West Coast, Sydney and Adelaide have been given armchair rides by the AFL’s imperfect fixturing over the past three years while new premiers Richmond can expect a much tougher draw in 2018.

Ahead of the release of next season’s fixture this month, a Herald Sun analysis has uncovered how big an impact fixtures can have on a club’s fortunes.

According to Champion Data draw difficulty ratings, Richmond’s 37-year premiership drought came to an end after it received the second-easiest draw this year, while the Western Bulldogs’ Grand Final triumph in 2016 came after it was handed the seventh-easiest fixture that season.

This year’s minor premier Adelaide had the sixth-easiest fixture while Sydney finished top of the table in 2016 with the ninth-hardest fixture. Fremantle finished on the top rung in 2015 with the eighth-hardest draw.

Adelaide’s dream fixture this year came despite the Crows finishing fifth on the ladder and making a semi-final in 2016.

Even though the Swans finished in the top four in each of the three seasons from 2014-16, Sydney’s hardest draw has been ranked sixth by the AFL’s official statisticians, with the other two years coming in at ninth.

However, West Coast takes the cake for having the best run, the second-easiest draw propelling the Eagles to a Grand Final in 2015 and the club’s draw difficulty ranked 10th in each of the two seasons since, bringing further finals appearances.

The bad news for Richmond is the premier can expect a much tougher draw next season.

Hawthorn was slapped with the third and sixth-hardest fixtures in 2015 and 2016 respectively after its premierships and the Western Bulldogs copped the fourth-hardest draw this year, finishing 10th as a result.

Teams with draws ranked among the five hardest have made finals just six times from 15 attempts over the past three years, while sides with draws ranked sixth to 10th have made the top eight on 11 occasions from 15 attempts.

The AFL introduced a “weighted” fixture model ahead of the 2014 season to govern the five double-up matches in the 22-round season, with clubs grouped into three pools of six based on their finishing positions the previous year.

There have been calls for a fairer 17-5 fixture to be introduced — in which every team plays each other once and then plays the other five teams in their third of the ladder — however clubs rejected that proposal earlier this year.

The AFL has confirmed next year’s season will start on Thursday, March 22 and conclude with the Grand Final on Saturday, September 29.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/more-news/afl-fixture-favourable-to-west-coast-sydney-and-adelaide-while-richmond-set-for-tougher-draw-in-2018/news-story/76f44fe3d067f409b12153f4aacc82d4

[mightytiges]

I think it will be return games against:

Adelaide
Geelong
GWS
Essendon
Collingwood

I'd reckon that is pretty close to the money.

AFL will be desperate to prop up GWS by giving them high drawing interstate teams, and they will not come much higher next season than Richmond as reigning premiers.

Collingwood and Essendon are certainties to maximise crowd numbers. Maybe Carlton in the mix.

Adelaide only because we smacked them in the grandfinal, so there will be a fair bit of interest in two rematches.

And Geelong because the AFL will feel they owe them for their home finals being played at the MCG.


I also reckon we might find ourselves playing an away game in Tassie next year. Lot of support for the Tigers down there.

My thoughts are based on them maximising crowd attendances whilst fulfilling the quota for their 17-5 / 6-6-6 system.

Only variance I can see is logistical issues or clashing with other fixtures and us having a return game against say saints or using us to draw a crowd against n0rf in Tassie.

Due to the 6-6-6 rule, we can't play both Collingwood and Carlton twice as they both finished in the bottom 6 this year.

I'd guess our start to 2018 will go something like this:

R1 vs Carlton (Home game on Thurs night Mar 22) -  unfurl the flag 
R2 vs Collingwood (Away on Thurs night Mar 29) - Easter weekend
R3 vs Adelaide (Home on Friday night Apr 6) - GF replay
R4 vs West Coast (Away on Sunday twilight Apr 15) - Host biggest Vic club & reigning premiers at their new Perth stadium = 60k full house
R5 vs Melbourne (Away on Tuesday night April 24) - Anzac Eve
R6 vs St Kilda (Home on Sunday arvo April 29)
R7 vs Bulldogs (Away on Saturday night May 5) - Etihad
R8 vs Geelong (Home on Friday night May 11) - QF replay
R9 vs Gold Coast (Away on Saturday night May 19) - Get us as reigning premiers to fill Metricon
R10 vs Essendon (Away on Saturday night May 26) - Dreamtime @ the 'G

[eliminator]

I would not be surprised if we play Melbourne twice in 2018.

[WilliamPowell]

Due to the 6-6-6 rule, we can't play both Collingwood and Carlton twice as they both finished in the bottom 6 this year.

I'd guess our start to 2018 will go something like this:

R1 vs Carlton (Home game on Thurs night Mar 22) -  unfurl the flag 
R2 vs Collingwood (Away on Thurs night Mar 29) - Easter weekend
R3 vs Adelaide (Home on Friday night Apr 6) - GF replay
R4 vs West Coast (Away on Sunday twilight Apr 15) - Host biggest Vic club & reigning premiers at their new Perth stadium = 60k full house
R5 vs Melbourne (Away on Tuesday night April 24) - Anzac Eve
R6 vs St Kilda (Home on Sunday arvo April 29)
R7 vs Bulldogs (Away on Saturday night May 5) - Etihad
R8 vs Geelong (Home on Friday night May 11) - QF replay
R9 vs Gold Coast (Away on Saturday night May 19) - Get us as reigning premiers to fill Metricon
R10 vs Essendon (Away on Saturday night May 26) - Dreamtime @ the 'G

Think you are on the money with the Friday / Saturday night allocation.

Ch7 will want us on FTA as much as possible

As an aside.... how lucky our newest co-major partner NIB. Come on board and we are now Premiers and about to get major FTA coverage in their 1st year ...timing

[🏅Dooks]

whens tge fixture released?

[1965]

next Tues (Oct 31)

[one-eyed]

It seems we'll be playing Collingwood on the Sunday after our Tuesday night Anzac Eve match against Melbourne.

--------------------------------------------------------

The AFL’s ANZAC Day scheduling nightmare

By Justin Talent
SEN
26 October 2017

AFL GM of Broadcasting and Clubs Travis Auld has accepted that the League faces a significant challenge in organising a suitable schedule for the four teams involved in mid-week ANZAC Day games next year.

Collingwood and Essendon’s traditional ANZAC Day blockbuster at the MCG takes place on a Wednesday next year, with the ANZAC Day-eve game between reigning premiers Richmond and Melbourne at the same venue locked in for the Tuesday night.

While the AFL are expected to hand all four teams Sunday games the week before, the problem the League face is how they handle the following round for the four sides.

Auld says even the most simple solution to the matter – having a team from Wednesday play a Tuesday night team on Sunday afternoon – has a major issue.

“Wednesday is as hard as it gets,” he told SEN’s The Run Home.

“What we will try and do is have those four teams play each other on the following weekend, ideally on the Sunday. The main challenge is that, depending on who is home and away, you’ve got MCG clubs largely playing and both games can’t be played at the MCG on the Sunday.

“Getting that to work is a real priority for us but it’s not easy.”

A likely solution could see the Tigers and the Magpies play at the MCG, while Essendon could host Melbourne at Etihad Stadium.

However with the Dees on the rise and likely to turn up in greater numbers to a venue they have historically avoided, crowd numbers could be an issue for the 56,347-capacity venue.

A Monday night game could also be a possibility, but past attempts at using the timeslot have fallen flat due to poor attendances.

The 2018 AFL fixture is released next Tuesday.

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2017/10/26/the-afl's-anzac-day-scheduling-nightmare/

[one-eyed]

The AFL has released the Round 1 fixture:


As expected, the 2018 season will kick off with the now-traditional Richmond and Carlton match at the MCG, which will have so much more significance now given the Tigers are the reigning premiers.

Given it is likely to be a Richmond home game, and the club’s first since their 37-year premiership drought broke in stunning circumstances, there could be a crowd of in excess of 80,000 fans in attendance.


AFL Round 1, 2018

Thursday, March 22

Richmond v Carlton, MCG, 7.25pm

Friday, March 23

Essendon v Adelaide, Etihad Stadium, 7.50pm

Saturday, March 24

St Kilda v Brisbane Lions, Etihad Stadium, 3.35pm

Port Adelaide v Fremantle, Adelaide Oval, 4.35pm

Gold Coast v North Melbourne, Cazaly’s Stadium, Cairns, 7.25pm

Hawthorn v Collingwood, MCG, 7.25pm

Sunday, March 25

Greater Western Sydney v Western Bulldogs, Canberra, 1.10pm

Melbourne v Geelong, MCG, 3.20pm

West Coast v Sydney, Perth Stadium, 7.10pm

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/more-news/round-1-2018-afl-fixture-revealed-ablett-to-take-on-demons-in-first-game-back-at-geelong/news-story/e6c2933cafa6b545e6f0ccf5d8855479