The “ridiculous” fixture mixup ahead of final six rounds

Approaching the back end of the 2025 season, the AFL may have significantly missed with the remaining prime-time fixtures.

With six rounds to play and nine teams (10 at a stretch) still in the running for a place in September, only five of the Thursday or Friday night games feature two of the top nine facing off, with Round 24’s fixture still to be determined.

Over the next five weeks, 14th placed Essendon have been handed four prime-time slots, commencing on Thursday night against the GWS Giants, followed by a Friday night clash with the Bulldogs, a Friday night fixture against Geelong and another Friday night slot against St Kilda in Round 23.

Beyond that, the Bombers are likely to feature in a standalone game in Round 24, playing in two games as a result of a rescheduled fixture against the Gold Coast Suns.

As it stands, Essendon are producing a rather dire brand of football, with over a dozen first team injuries resulting in an unwatchable loss to Richmond in Round 18.

Discussing the fixtures over the run home, SEN Breakfast co-hosts Garry Lyon and Tim Watson believe that the Bombers’ glut of prime-time slots is a complete miss by the AFL.

Watson: “Swanny (Greg Swann) takes his position as the boss of football today. What do you think he can or should do, or what do you think his conversation with others at the AFL will be around why Essendon has three Friday, Thursday night games in the run home to the end of the season and towards the finals?

“It’s ridiculous! It is bizarre!”

Lyon: “They have got Round 19 on a Thursday, Round 20 on a Friday, Round 22 on a Friday, Round 23 on a Friday and Round 24 I assume will be somewhere around the Thursday and that one off game.

“It’s the greatest misread, from a fixturing point of view, in history.”

Watson: “It’s not good for the game though either. The broadcasters must be completely bemused by how this has taken place because I would have thought being stakeholders in the game, they would have had a seat at the table when this was discussed.

“Now you’ve got Essendon playing in those games, you’ve got them playing against the Giants on a Thursday night, the Dogs on a Friday night, Geelong at Geelong on a Friday night, St Kilda on a Friday night as well.

“It’s great for them because they get free to air coverage for their sponsors but in terms of marquee games, marketing and promoting the game, this is going to stink for the broadcasters.”

Lyon: “It’s not Good for Essendon watching them do what they did on Saturday night. It’s damaging to their brand.

“This is just a horrible, horrible own goal from the AFL. They have got the capacity to set the final six rounds.

“That’s what they’ve done, they have the floating fixture for this very reason – that the last six or seven rounds is not a situation where we have dud games.

“They deliberately leave that open so that they can manipulate that and put the best games on – how have we ended up with this situation?”

Watson: “Maybe that’s the first thing that Swanny can do. He can come out and explain exactly how that happened when he sat down and spoke to the AFL people.

“It’s not Channel 7 getting their way, this is not what Channel 7 want. They don’t want a game involving Essendon in a marquee time slot now! That’s the last thing they want!

“Did you see the ratings (On the Collingwood versus Gold Coast game)… I haven’t seen exactly what they were, but apparently it was one of the highest rating Friday night games for the year.”

Lyon: “That’s what you can get at this time of year and that’s what you should be getting – games of teams that are going to be involved in the business end of the season.

“Not teams, not through entirely their own fault, who put on the worst display of football on Saturday night I have ever seen.

“That is a team – again, there are circumstances – but that is the team that are going to dominate this fixture, which is a joke.”

Outside of the Bombers, Brisbane host the Bulldogs this Friday night, while marquee games including the Bulldogs versus Giants, Adelaide versus Hawthorn, the Hawks versus Collingwood and Fremantle versus Brisbane make up the remaining prime time contests between top nine teams.