The highly-anticipated 2019 AFL home-and-away season fixture was unveiled today.
Here’s how Western Bulldogs CEO Ameet Bains assessed the fixture from the Club’s perspective.
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“Our fixture has a number of features which we are really excited about, and some aspects which no doubt will be challenging,” Bains said.
“We are pleased to start our season with a significant home game against Sydney, which we haven’t been able to do for the previous two seasons. It will be a special occasion as the first AFL game at the newly-branded Marvel Stadium.
“Our members and fans will be excited about the opportunity to have our first five games of the season in Melbourne, only five interstate trips, and to host some blockbuster games at Marvel Stadium against some of the AFL’s biggest clubs like Collingwood, Richmond, Geelong and Melbourne.
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“While an increase in Sunday matches presents some challenges, it also allows a great opportunity to attract more families to attend our games, especially for matches in the early afternoon timeslot.
“We commend the AFL for its scheduling of our two Ballarat games at Mars Stadium. The games being played at either end of the season, and at fan-friendly times, will enhance the match-day experience for our fans and the Ballarat community.
“Our major disappointment is again missing out on being involved in a Good Friday game after the great success of the inaugural event in 2017, when we successfully partnered with North Melbourne.
“We firmly believe opportunities for marquee games need to be more evenly shared across the competition. Regardless, we will continue to support this concept, and the Good Friday appeal, in the strong hope that we can again be part of this fixture in 2020.
“It’s also unfortunate that we only feature once on a Friday night in 2019, however we understand the AFL’s decision-making on rewarding the high-performing teams of the previous season with the marquee timeslots.
“We acknowledge that constructing the fixture is incredibly complex, with many competing considerations, and it’s difficult for clubs to have everything they wish for. We thank the AFL for their cooperation throughout this process in meeting many of our requests.”
