Expand the fixture, play games midweek: Tigers coach’s radical plan for 2021 and beyondApril 15, 2020
Max Laughton
FOX SPORTSThe league is already set to condense its fixture once the season resumes, with teams likely to play three games over a two-week period, for example. Games could thus be scheduled every day of the week, rather than just on weekends.
But with additional revenue in sharp focus, the dual premiership coach suggested the AFL could change its fixture once normality resumes.
In essence, players would replace midweek training with a match - but they would likely play less of each game.
It could see footy emulate the schedules of the NBA or Major League Baseball, where players are often rested across the season but games are more frequent. Reaching a 34-game fixture would allow for a complete and fair round-robin.
“There’s a possibility of playing more games. You play on the weekend, you train all week and then you play on the weekend again,” Hardwick said on Fox Footy’s Fox Footy Live.
“There's a lot of variables that go into this, but you have the opportunity to play-train-play, as compared to play, then play a midweek game on reduced game time possibly, then play again. I think most players would choose to play the game rather than train.”
In the one round played this season, we saw shorter quarters - and the AFL’s superstars spending the same amount of time on the ground, but those minutes made up a larger proportion of the game.
Hardwick suggested the AFL will see a trial run of this format later in 2020, with players set to have their game time reduced to make up for the shorter breaks between matches.
“People want to come and see the stars play. So for example a guy like Dustin Martin, he might play only 60 per cent of a game moving forward, or Trent Cotchin, those types of players,” he said.
“Bench sizes would have to increase, rotation numbers would have to increase, the amount of game time would have to decrease. But the fact of the matter is if it gets more games into the season, I think people would enjoy it.
“It becomes a managing aspect for us as coaches, so we’re putting a lot of time and thought process into who plays and what game time they play, and once again we get more games within a season.”
The move could also mean more money heading into the AFL system via expanded TV rights deals, given there would be more games to broadcast.
This in turn could help clubs afford the coaches and staff they’ve been forced to stand down in recent weeks.
“One thing we can start to get our head around is that more games will get you more revenue, so we don’t necessarily have to cut people and lose jobs,” Hardwick said.
“Now I don’t play the game, the players do, so we’re asking them to possibly turnover and play every three to five days. It’s going to be incredibly tough, so some things in the game are going to have to change ... it’s an idea that may happen.”
https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-2020-damien-hardwick-wants-expanded-fixture-games-midweek-afl-fixture-expansion-coronavirus-fox-footy-live/news-story/a1da0a33793cec783d0d1ca28dc69a01
