I am heading back to Aus for a week in August, for reasons I’ll share in a later post.
Most of it will be in Sydney, but I’ll spend two nights in Melbourne to spend some time with my sisters. On Friday night, we were hoping to go to the MCG to watch the football; after all, I’m a member, and I need to get at least some of my money’s worth.
The first thing I did was check the schedule to see who would be playing, and to my surprise, the answer was TBC. While we know who will be playing that round, we don’t know when. I thought I was losing the plot.
But I wasn’t. It turns out the league only puts out the schedule for the first 15 rounds, and then depending on how teams are playing, assign positions for the second half of the season. The idea is that you want to fit the blockbuster games into the primetime slots, Friday and Saturday nights, and leave the average games on late Sunday afternoons.
Originally I was appalled. But now, I see the appeal. Predicting what games will be most appealing a year out is impossible. For example, tomorrow Manchester United and Liverpool play in the match of the day. While usually this would be THE game of the week, if not season, this year it will be a wash. Liverpool have already won the league and are on holiday. Manchester United have survived relegation and are focussing 100% of their efforts on their European campaign. There isn’t anything to play for.
Meanwhile, Newcastle and Chelsea kick off in the unpopular morning slot for what will be the defining game for both of their seasons.
Coming back to the AFL, I have changed my mind about the flexible fixture. I don’t know who will play, but I do know that the chance of a ripper game is massively increased.
I can live with that.