The AFL headlined the release of its 2015 fixture with some major changes, and reversions back to fan-favourite timeslots.
The new season will kick off with Carlton and Richmond at the MCG on their traditional Easter Thursday timeslot.
Some of the changes include the scrapping of Sunday night matches, five Thursday night games and five games on ANZAC Day (which falls on a Saturday).
Victorian clubs will travel interstate at least five times, and this year’s grand finalists, Hawthorn and Sydney, will first meet in round eight.
Weekend day games will be more prominent, with 47 day games scheduled compared to 34 this year.
And only one bye is scheduled for next season, featuring over rounds 11-13, with six games scheduled over the three-week period.
The fixture has been structured according to 2014 ladder positions.
“In an imperfect world, which our fixture is and we’ve acknowledged that for many years, you’re playing at the margins and all we’ve done is actually get some slight weighting going into who plays who twice,” AFL boss Gillon McLachlan said.
“If you look at last year, it was the same formula and the best teams made the eight and the best teams were in the grand final.”
The biggest Victorian teams – Carlton, Essendon, Collingwood, Richmond, Geelong and reigning premier Hawthorn – will feature prominently on Saturday afternoons.
Source: AFL.com.au