This year’s eight AFL finalists won’t be confirmed until the final siren of the final home and away game, with the league scheduling a high-stakes ‘Super Sunday’ that will see none of the three games overlap.
The AFL on Monday finally released the fixture for Round 24, providing clubs, broadcasters and fans with certainty after a longer-than-anticipated wait around confirmed times and dates.
Amid a dramatic run home, the AFL had been holding off on releasing the Round 24 fixture for several weeks to allow it to confidently schedule as many ‘live’ games as possible on the Sunday and set up a thrilling conclusion to the home and away season.
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And the league has landed on three games — which won’t overlap — where all six teams featured could be scrambling for spots in the top eight.
It’ll be an early start to the final day of the home and away season, with Port Adelaide’s clash with Richmond at Adelaide Oval to commence at 12.30pm (AEST).
Attention will then turn to Sydney when the Swans host Melbourne at 3.20pm. The Swans could be fighting to sneak into the bottom-half of the top eight, while the Demons could be trying to secure a top-two spot.
Carlton storm home to defeat the Saints | 02:22
Then Carlton will host the Giants at Marvel Stadium in the round’s final match, with the first bounce in the rare Sunday footy timeslot of 6.10pm. The TV broadcast will be produced by Fox Footy.
Both the Blues (5th on the ladder after Round 21) and Giants (8th) have emerged as shock September chances off the back of stunning surges across the back-half of the season. Carlton has won its past seven straight matches, while the Giants had also won seven games on the trot before going down to the Swans on the weekend.
The Blues, Giants, Tigers and Swans are four of six teams separated by one game with three rounds left in the home and away season, highlighting why it looms as one of the most thrilling runs to AFL finals in years.
“Sunday will see three back to back to back games, all with finals implications on the line. We have purposely spread the last three games on Sunday to give each match clear airtime as we crescendo into what is sure to be a hotly contested 2023 Toyota AFL Finals Series,” AFL head of broadcast operations and scheduling Josh Bowler said.
As had been widely reported in past weeks, Round 24 will kick off with a Friday night blockbuster between Essendon and Collingwood at the MCG.
‘Can’t see them winning it’ | 02:08
Third-placed Brisbane and seventh-placed St Kilda will have a stand-alone Saturday twilight timeslot for their clash at The Gabba before Geelong hosts fellow finals contender the Western Bulldogs. Adelaide, which could also still be in the finals mix come Round 24, will travel to Perth to take on West Coast in the late Saturday night game.
The North Melbourne-Gold Coast and Hawthorn-Fremantle games will both begin at 1.45pm on Saturday afternoon.
All matches will be broadcast live and ad-break free siren-to-siren on Fox Footy.
“The last few rounds have shown this finals race is very much still wide open and we have been witnessing some incredible closely-fought matches,” Bowler said.
“We expect these last three rounds will keep footy fans enthralled as the race for the top eight is decided.
“This last round could possibly see up to six games with both teams competing for a finals outcome which will make for a fitting conclusion to a record-breaking season so far.”
AFL ROUND 24 FIXTURE 2023 (all times AEST)
Friday August 25
Essendon v Collingwood, MCG (7.50pm)
Saturday August 26
North Melbourne v Gold Coast Suns, Blundstone Arena (1.45pm)
Hawthorn v Fremantle, MCG (1.45pm)
Brisbane Lions v St Kilda, The Gabba (4.35pm)
Geelong Cats v Western Bulldogs, GMHBA Stadium (7.25pm)
West Coast Eagles v Adelaide Crows, Optus Stadium (8.10pm)
Sunday August 27
Port Adelaide v Richmond, Adelaide Oval (12.30pm)
Sydney Swans v Melbourne, SCG (3.20pm)
Carlton v GWS Giants, Marvel Stadium (6.10pm)
