By James Dowling
The release of the AFL fixture is a much-anticipated milestone, and some clubs went to impressive lengths for the announcement of the 2023 schedule.
Collingwood took their followers for a gallery visit with their announcement, using the new platform of AI-generated artworks to aesthetically render the games to come.
Highlights include what looks like a puppet rendition of Collingwood v Richmond, and a snowscape potentially inspired by Vincent van Gogh to represent the round seven clash with Adelaide.
The Blues turned to poetry with “something old, something new, something borrowed, something Blue”. That phrase would not be out of place at a wedding, of course … and their supporters are certainly married to the idea of playing finals next year.
Port Adelaide opted for retro pixel art, merging 2023 and 2003 in this animatic. Jumping between tabs of lovingly rendered MS Paint art, players are brought to life in the punniest way possible.
Richmond embraced their urban surroundings, burying their game times among train timetables, street signs and tram displays, putting iconic local landmarks on display. The video takes fans across the city, and to the stadium, bringing back that familiar journey to Jolimont station.
The Western Bulldogs seemingly found themselves their next viral mascot, as alongside the release of their fixtures, they let Rudy the Bulldog show how they plan to coast past their competition.
GWS went musical with their announcement.
It’s said there’s a Simpsons moment for every part of life, and the West Coast Eagles tried to prove this with their fixture announcement, as Homer, Marge and all the Springfielders stumble across the various mascots of the 2023 fixture. We get some brief interludes, however, from Futurama, Rick & Morty and South Park, as a nice animated palate cleanser.
The Swans used this announcement as a chance to remind everyone how canned sports interviews can get, as their players and coach John Longmire let us know they’re “really looking forward to it” at all times.
Hawthorn’s announcement allowed fans another peek at the imperfections, with Changkuoth Jiath taking the stage to announce Hawthorn’s fixtures … kind of. The breakout star was subtly dubbed over with text-to-speech for all the specifics of the announcement.
The Saints used the Star Wars opening scroll to let us know their marketing team were too busy to put effort into the announcement, making this one of the most cinematic “cop-outs” in Aussie sports.
Sticking to the traditional (and arguably uninspired) approach were Gold Coast, Essendon, Adelaide, Geelong, Brisbane, North Melbourne, Fremantle and Melbourne, who all opted for press releases and standard timetable announcements.
