In today’s AFL Briefing, your wrap of footy news:
- The Bulldogs have been rewarded with prime-time fixtures as the AFL released the schedule for all but the final round of the season.
- Tom De Koning is sidelined for Friday night’s clash at the SCG after suffering a knock to his larynx in Carlton’s win over the Saints.
AFL releases fixture for back end of season
Brittany Busch
The AFL has handed the Western Bulldogs a prime-time boost with a spate of Thursday and Friday night games in the second half of the season, in a fixture that also includes three Friday night double-headers.
The schedule for rounds 16-23 dropped on Thursday, revealing big Friday night programs that the AFL said were aimed at “maximising prime-time audience whilst also managing team travel and breaks between games”.
The Bulldogs will take on the Bombers in one of their three Friday night games.Credit: Getty Images
In round 17, traditional rivals Carlton and Collingwood will play at the MCG before West Coast host GWS in the first of the double-headers. It will be the first time this year two matches will be held on a Friday night, although Good Friday featured a twilight match in Melbourne followed by a late game in Perth.
The Western Bulldogs have been rewarded for their strong start to the season, scoring three Friday evening slots and two Thursdays.
And the Dogs’ round 18 clash with Adelaide has been moved to Marvel Stadium after originally being slated for Ballarat’s Mars Stadium, which is under construction. A paltry crowd of less than 5000 watched the Bulldogs thrash Port Adelaide in Ballarat in round eight, drawing a pointed sledge from ex-Bulldog Bailey Smith.
The AFL will hope Carlton will perform in its blockbuster evening slots. Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
The AFL has also backed in finals hopefuls Essendon and Carlton with prominent night fixtures. The Blues, who are 10th on the ladder, have struggled to live up to pre-season expectations, while the Bombers are ninth and remain strong drawcards especially while they are in the finals hunt.
Ladder leaders Brisbane Lions will compete in grand final rematches from 2023 and 2024 against Collingwood in round 21 and Sydney the following week.
“We are excited to schedule a number of Friday night double-headers aimed at maximising primetime audience whilst also managing team travel and breaks between games,” the AFL’s head of strategy and scheduling Josh Bowler said in a statement.
“This season has delivered more Thursday nights than ever before with this key timeslot featuring in all AFL rounds except round 23 when we will see the exciting inaugural AFLW re-match between Carlton and Collingwood kick off the 10th NAB AFLW season.”
The fixture for round 24 will be announced later in the season as teams aim to lock in finals spots.
The final round will also include the rescheduled Gold Coast vs Essendon match from opening round, which was postponed because of Cyclone Alfred.
De Koning to miss for Blues with larynx injury
AAP
With star Tom De Koning out injured, Carlton coach Michael Voss is backing forgotten man Marc Pittonet to make his case in the No.1 ruck role against Sydney.
De Koning is sidelined for Friday night’s clash at the SCG after suffering a knock to his larynx during their last-start 15-point win over St Kilda.
Voss is confident the in-demand talent will only miss the first of their two Sir Doug Nicholls round fixtures.
“He came out [against St Kilda] with the husky voice and we sort of thought that it’d just be a knock to the throat and be OK,” Voss said on Thursday.
“By the time we got into yesterday, it was still hanging around.
“It just warranted a little bit more investigation and sort of felt like we just needed that to settle for another week before he becomes available next week.”
De Koning’s injury opens the door for Pittonet to play his first AFL game of the season, slated for a match-up against Sydney ruck Brodie Grundy.
Pittonet, after playing 14 games last year, was named as an emergency last round.
“Pitto’s been in some really great form himself. The best he could possibly do is just state his case through form,” Voss said.
“He’s been able to do that and played some really strong VFL football, so quite familiar with what he can do, but it’ll be a pretty important tussle in the middle of the ground with Brodie Grundy.”
Rowan Marshall and Tom De Koning went head-to-head in the ruck last Friday.Credit: AFL Photos
Carlton, sitting 10th (4-5), are out to end their SCG hoodoo off the back of their hard-earned win over the Saints.
The Blues haven’t defeated Sydney at their home venue since 2019 and have lost nine of their last 10 SCG matches.
An injury-ravaged Swans outfit are also struggling to find form, licking their wounds after an eight-point loss to Essendon condemned them to a 3-6 record.
“Certainly, at the SCG, we haven’t had a great recent record here, so we have to amend that,” Voss said.
“We’ve got an opposition that’s a pretty good opposition. They’ve been a very good team over a long period of time.
“They’ve got plenty of weapons that if they have their own way, it’ll be a tough game.
“We’re not expecting anything different except their best and having played against them in some really good games we’ve got a really clear picture on what that looks like.”
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