AFL Looking At 3 Gather Rounds

[76woodenspooners]

Agree, not sure of the point of it. In theory if you played in all regional areas maybe but its stupid to schedule big drawing clubs at tiny grounds in the same state.

Sure, probably not much point to it from a Victorian POV.

Its value would be from interstate visitors and tourism. Just like in Adelaide where people are flying in to go to the footy and spending $$$ in Barossa and McLaren Vale. For Vic, people would enjoy flying into Melbourne for the novelty of watching games at the MCG, and spend $$$ in Yarra Valley and Mornington Peninsula.

Vic has by far the best ability of anywhere in the country to host this kind of weekend. It’s got the teams. It’s got the stadia. It’s got the local footy fans who will whinge about it because it’s change and what’s the point of it? - but will turn up and fill the stands anyway. It’s got the other tourist attractions. It’s got a local tourism board and a major events company with deep pockets.

 

[Blackas87]

Victorian gather round makes more sense when thinking of it more from a government POV than an AFL POV.

The Victorian government have long been at the forefront of investing in tourism and major events.

They’ve got the Grand Prix. They’ve got the Australian Open. They get a lot of the major theatre productions. Gather Round would be another major event. And all the better if they get to steal it off SA. And no other state makes more of a circus out of a major event than Vic.

Victoria has the most supporters/more than half the teams. They’d be less people travelling to Victoria than a gather round being anywhere else.

 

[Blackas87]

Gather round as it is today should be compared with a pre-season round. From an AFLPA POV, that’s essentially where access to the players has come from. And how else would you add an extra game to the H&A schedule without giving 9 teams an extra home game?

• Crowds up (More people attend gather round games than pre-season games)
• Ticket revenue exists (Do they even charge entry into pre-season games?)
• Facilities better than at country ovals where they were holding some pre-season games.
• Doesn’t really change the travel situation. (Only so many times West Coast play Freo; Sydney play GWS, etc during a pre-season. Teams had to travel anyway). If anything this levels it by forcing the Vic teams to travel more.

These are not pre-season games. Pre season games are just for teams getting ready for the real stuff.

These games are for premiership points, the facilities need to be up to standard.

 

[Taper]

Does gather round actually achieve anything, other than people muttering "gather round" every five minutes?

Costs:

• crowds are smaller than a normal round
• ticket revenue is much lower than a normal round
• clubs dealing with lesser facilities at local grounds / slightly more compromised prep / medicals etc
• compounds the problems of teams in Perth, Brisbane, Sydney travelling too much throughout the course of the year

Gains for hosts:

• Adelaide / SA tourism
• Gives the Adelaide teams an advantage across the year

Gains for everyone else:
?

Magic Round is a huge thing in the NRL so it's simply the AFL's answer to it.

 

[Toffee Lion]

At this rate the Lions will either be playing at home or a gather round in Round -0.

AFL getting dumber by the year.

 

[76woodenspooners]

These are not pre-season games. Pre season games are just for teams getting ready for the real stuff.

These games are for premiership points, the facilities need to be up to standard.

Here’s your choice …

(a) 3 preseason games + 22 H&A games (Pre-2023)

(b) 2 preseason games + 23 H&A games inc Gather Round. (Post 2023)

You’d rather go back to 3 pre-season games because they play a couple of games at Mount Barker?

 

[Blackas87]

Here’s your choice …

(a) 3 preseason games + 22 H&A games (Pre-2023)

(b) 2 preseason games + 23 H&A games inc Gather Round. (Post 2023)

You’d rather go back to 3 pre-season games because they play a couple of games at Mount Barker?

Is going back to 3 pre season games an option?

 

[76woodenspooners]

Is going back to 3 pre season games an option?

Well, sure, that’s what we had before and we know it works.

If playing 4 points at (as you say) substandard facilities is not a good option, do you have a better option?

 

[Blackas87]

Well, sure, that’s what we had before and we know it works.

If playing 4 points at (as you say) substandard facilities is not a good option, do you have a better option?

This thread is about going to 3 gather rounds.

But they were playing one pre season game in 2021 and 2022 before Gather round was introduced in 2023. Gather round was not introduced to replace pre season games.

Season 2022 worked fine

 

[kaiserchief13]

Vic and Tas doesn't need to be part of it. Victoria gets enough games already and Tasmania doesn't have the stadiums.

Every 3/4 years in all of WA, SA, NSW and QLD.

 

[Deathray]

You’re barking up the wrong tree. The problem here is trying to milk all the joy out of a good idea.

Innovation is always needed to evolve and adapt. Somebody always whinges about any change, but they get used to it pretty quickly. It’s been a while since I’ve seen people complaining about:

• Games televised live
• Umpires no longer wearing white (including the goal umpires in white lab coats)
• 15m penalty changed to 50m
• Stand rule

As the times change we change with the times.

Those things happened over a 50 year time span. These current execs clearly have kpi’s that demand new ‘ideas’ every year. A situation that creates crap like AFLX.

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[The_Wookie]

Those things happened over a 50 year time span. These current execs clearly have kpi’s that demand new ‘ideas’ every year. A situation that creates crap like AFLX.

---

An organisation that ISNT looking at innovation and new ideas isnt doing its job

 

[The_Wookie]

The other thing is the timing. Someone said something about moving the Adelaide one to winter.

That would be a shocking decision. Half the reason it's such a massive success in Adelaide is because it's catching the fumes of festival season. It's jumping on a point where the city has a lot of momentum behind it.

Adelaide is in hibernation from June. Send it in winter and it'll be a struggle.

The only reason Adelaide is in hibernation from June is because theres nothing on. The people travelling here for this arent for the most part, the same demo as the people here for the festivals.

 

[Deathray]

An organisation that ISNT looking at innovation and new ideas isnt doing its job

Ok fair enough. I just lament being served up ‘new coke’ every season while several clubs have over 100k members which should provide long term stability to the entire league given equalisation.

 

[The_Wookie]

Ok fair enough. I just lament being served up ‘new coke’ every season while several clubs have over 100k members which should provide long term stability to the entire league given equalisation.

Stability yes. Growth not so much.

Clubs and players want more money every year. The AFL wants more metrics to boast about in the media and to sponsors and broadcast parters. Everyone wants a piece of a pie that may or may not be finite in nature.

And then the inevitable comparisons with our biggest local competitor - the NRL is going to Vegas, the NRL has Origin, the NRL had magic round, the NRL had the nines. Some things translate to the AFL better than others.

Magic Round has worked. The AFL cant replicate Origin, and AFLX was a pretty poor variant of the 9s concept. The AFL is caught up in a reactionary loop at the moment.

 

[Dangerousfield]

Weather is what's made this a success, warm balmy Autumn weather.

Picture what's happening here right now if it was in the freeze of winter, blowing a gale and pissing rain for the games and sidekick functions.

Would be an unmitigated disaster for the game.

Don't kill the golden egg AFL, just don't!

 

[Billy ray]

Stick to one. In adelaide.
And when tassie comes in well, one
year port has a bye. The other year adelaide has a bye. That way both teams dont get an extra home game. Just one.

 

[The Mailman Delivers]

Put some goal posts up at North Sydney Oval and away we go.

Would be good atmosphere for a Friday twilight and Sunday arvo.

Get all the workers from North Sydney come down.

If it's good for AFLW it's good enough for the AFL.

That ground is a good size for the AFLW but too small for the men. A player kicking in after a behind could virtually bomb it to the hotspot.

 

[Teen Wolf]

Stick to one. In adelaide.
And when tassie comes in well, one
year port has a bye. The other year adelaide has a bye. That way both teams dont get an extra home game. Just one.

But once again just saying "stick to one Gather Round" doesn't address what the AFL should do with the 10 additional games they'll have at their disposal.

 

[Dan26]

3 Gather rounds is such a stupid idea, that is being proposed for all the wrong reasons. The AFL are proposing it, not because the idea has merit (it doesn't) but because it mathematically makes the 19 team season balance.

In a 19 team league, there cannot be a 23-match season. It's numerically impossible. There can only be an even number of games. You cannot have 19 teams playing 23 matches.

So, the AFL have realised that from 2028 it has to be either a 22 match or 24 match season. This conflicts with Gather round, because Gather round currently exists as an "extra" match to be added to the 22 other matches - 11 home, 11 away and neutral Gather Round for a total of 23. It only really works with an odd number of matches so Gather Round can be "tacked on" to an even number.

A 22 match season with a neutral Gather Round would have some teams have 10 home games and and 11 away, and similarly a 24-match season with gather Round would have some teams having 11 home and 12 away. It doesn't work.

So the AFL have thought: "A-HA....Bingo!"............ If we have 3 Gather rounds, but every club has a bye for one of them, we can have 24 matches with 11 home, 11 away and 2 Gather rounds per team. We've made it work! - 11, 11 and 2. Success!

The problem with this is the idea is not being proposed on merit as all ideas should be. It is instead being proposed as a means to an end. It's nothing more than a way to make the season balance. This means it is being done for all the wrong reasons.

If the only way you can make the season balance up numerically with Gather Rounds in the fixture is to have 3 of them, and you know in your heart of hearts it's not a good idea, but is only being done to balance up the numbers then it should be scrapped.

Three Gather Rounds is not a good idea, and the concept should be stopped completely once the 2028 season begins. Do it until the end of 2027, and then stop the concept. Don't try to fit a square peg into a round hole.

 

[yeahmate]

m8 the afl doesnt give a flying fig about fixture maths to even things up only maths it cares about is $ + $

 

[Billy ray]

But once again just saying "stick to one Gather Round" doesn't address what the AFL should do with the 10 additional games they'll have at their disposal.

Stagger the games through the year or something. No law saying only 1 team has a bye each week. Make it sometimes 1 sometimes 3 sometimes 5. Spread the season
Im no mathematician. But also no requirement for these extra 10 games to be held at one weekend or over two weekends.

 

[kreuze_missile]

It's gather round every week in Melbourne.

Makes no sense hosting anything here.

 

[Teen Wolf]

Stagger the games through the year or something. No law saying only 1 team has a bye each week. Make it sometimes 1 sometimes 3 sometimes 5. Spread the season
Im no mathematician. But also no requirement for these extra 10 games to be held at one weekend or over two weekends.

The issue isn't when to play those extra games, it's where.

The only solution all clubs will agree to is the AFL maximising profits by selling these extra games in bulk to state governments, because the money from Gather Round games are split into 18 (soon 19) equal slices.

 

[Billy ray]

The issue isn't when to play those extra games, it's where.

The only solution all clubs will agree to is the AFL maximising profits by selling these extra games in bulk to state governments, because the money from Gather Round games are split into 18 (soon 19) equal slices.

Play them in small regional centres through the year. In Darwin. In Cairns. In Ballarat. In Canberra. In Tassie.
Darwin games for example can replace the home ones the Suns play there allowing 11 games at Carrara where they are trying to grow the game yet you can go 4-5 weeks some years with no footy.
But obviously Ballarat games cannot feature bulldogs. Cairns games cannot feauture brisbane or suns. Tassie games cannot feature devils.