A summary of some of the 2015 Toyota AFL Premiership Season Fixture constraints

Season structure  Each club to play 22 matches across 23 rounds, with each club to play 11 home and 11 away matches (NB: 23 rounds is the maximum number of weeks with all major venues available).  A mid-season break for all clubs to be spread across Rounds 11, 12 and 13, with six matches to be played in each round, enabling six clubs to enjoy a bye across each of the three weeks.  All clubs to play each other once by Round 22.  No teams to play each other for the second time until after Round 10.  There must also be a minimum of six weeks between clubs’ first and second meetings.  There must be a minimum six-day break between each club’s match.  Themed rounds (and related matches), including Indigenous Round and ANZAC Round to be considered and key event matches scheduled.

Fairness / equity Each club to play every other club once and five clubs twice in accordance with the “Weighted Rule”. Accordingly, in the construction of the 2015 fixture, the final 2014 ladder was grouped into the top six teams, middle six teams and bottom six teams with regard to better managing the equality of double match-ups for all clubs in 2015:  Sides ranked 1-6 on the ladder have a minimum of two double-meetings with other top six sides and a maximum of three meetings with sides ranked 1-6. They have a minimum of one double-meeting of sides ranked 7-12 and a maximum of two double-meetings of sides in the 7-12 range. They have either no double meetings or a maximum of one double meeting with a side ranked 13-18.  Sides ranked 7-12 on the ladder have a minimum of one double-meeting with sides ranked 1-6 on the ladder and a maximum of two meetings with sides ranked 1-6. They have a minimum of two double-meetings of sides ranked 7-12 and a maximum of three double- meetings of sides 7-12. They have a minimum of one double-meeting of sides ranked 13-18 and a maximum of two double-meetings of sides ranked 13-18.  Sides ranked 13-18 on the ladder have either no double meeting or a maximum of one double meeting with a side ranked 1-6. They have a minimum of one double-meeting with sides ranked 7-12 and a maximum of two double-meetings of sides ranked 7-12. They have a minimum of two double-meetings of sides ranked 13-18 and a maximum of three double- meetings of sides 13-18.

Venues  AFL and club contractual obligations for home and away matches must be fulfilled, including: o a minimum of 45 matches at the MCG, including: . 6 Carlton home matches . 9 Collingwood home matches . Min 6 Hawthorn home matches . 4 Essendon home matches . Remainder made up of home games for Melb, Rich, Gee o a minimum of 44 matches at Etihad Stadium, including . 5 home matches for Carlton; . 7 home matches for Essendon; . 2 home matches for Collingwood; . 8 home matches for North ; . 10 home matches for ; . 10 home matches for St Kilda; o 22 matches at ; o 22 matches at Patersons Stadium; o 11 matches at ; o 11 matches at Metricon Stadium; o 8 matches at the SCG; o a minimum of 7 matches at Simonds Stadium; o a minimum of 7 matches at Spotless Stadium; o 4 matches at Aurora Stadium (Launceston); o 3 matches at ANZ Stadium; o 3 matches at Blundstone Arena (Hobart); o 3 matches at StarTrack Oval (Canberra); and o 1 match at Westpac Stadium (NZ), Cazaly’s Stadium (Cairns), TIO Stadium (Darwin) and TIO (Alice Springs).  All clubs to play at least one match at the MCG, as part of a minimum four in Victoria.  Brisbane to play a minimum 6 matches in Victoria  Endeavour to support specific club and venue requests, for example: o scheduling matches at TIO Traegar Park, Blundstone Arena, Stadium and Aurora Stadium during the day; TIO Stadium at night; o scheduling matches at WA and Qld venues at twilight or night in warmer early round(s); o avoiding scheduling matches at Patersons Stadium on Sunday early (11.10am WST) or Saturday afternoon (11.45am and 12:10pm WST); and o avoiding twilight and night matches at venues with inadequate lighting.  Scheduling blockbuster matches at bigger venues to maximise attendances.  Endeavouring to schedule Thursday night matches at a variety of different venues/markets.  Where possible, minimise venue clashes with other sporting codes/events, for example: o NRL matches at Allianz Stadium (given proximity to SCG) and ANZ Stadium o NRL matches at SCG; o International Champions Cup soccer matches at MCG; and o Rugby Union matches at StarTrack Oval and the Gabba.  Avoid other specific venue unavailability that have been made known to us, for example: o SCG unavailable Round 1 due to ICC World Cup; o ANZ and SCG both unavailable on specific weekends due to NRL bookings; and o Spotless Stadium unavailable from Round 1 to Round 6 given Royal Easter Show.

Clubs and Travel

 Minimise consecutive six-day breaks between matches where possible.  Minimise back-to-back travels, and seek to avoid consecutive long haul travels.  No back-to-back travels for WA Clubs  Minimise club six-day breaks following a travel where possible  All clubs to have a minimum of one travel to WA.  All Victorian-based clubs to travel interstate on a minimum of five occasions.  Where possible, schedule clubs’ interstate matches sufficiently early to enable the traveling club to fly home on the same day.  Endeavour to schedule some club interstate matches during school holiday periods to assist supporters wishing to travel to the match.  Endeavour to support specific club requirements and requests, for example (amongst many others): o Adelaide – scheduling a match v Hawthorn at home to celebrate their 25th season in the national competition; o Geelong – requesting 8 home matches at Simonds Stadium; o Richmond and Melbourne request for an eve match; o Melbourne request to host a Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA) match; o Melbourne v Collingwood on Queen’s Birthday Monday; o Home matches in Indigenous Round for WCE and ; o Home matches in Multicultural Round for Western Bulldogs and GWS Giants; o Essendon home match against Hawthorn to celebrate 1984/85 30 year premiership celebrations  Club, coach, or player milestones (eg Mick Malthouse breaking the coaching record, and each reaching 400 games).

Broadcasting  Maintaining regular broadcast timeslots in regular rounds: o Friday night x 1 match (Seven); o Saturday afternoon x 2 matches (Seven and Fox); o Saturday twilight x 1 match (Fox); o Saturday night x 2 matches (Seven and Fox); o Sunday early x 1 match (Fox); o Sunday afternoon x 1 match (Seven); and o Sunday twilight x 1 match (Fox). * All matches simulcast live on Fox Sports (Fox Footy)  Generally seek to maximise consistency of timeslots across markets – eg Sat Twilight in Gold Coast.  Schedule the anticipated match of the round and second best match of the round on Friday and Saturday nights respectively pursuant to the AFL’s broadcast rights agreement.  Ensure that the two Clubs from each of SA, WA, Qld and NSW are not scheduled in concurrent or overlapping timeslots, eg: o cannot schedule both Syd and GWS in Saturday day matches or Saturday night matches unless playing against each other o cannot schedule Syd at 110pm Sunday and GWS Giants at 320pm Sunday; or 320pm and 440pm on Sunday o and so on for each of SA/WA/QLD/NSW  Ensure that Fox Sports (Fox Footy) produced matches are substituted into local team markets on to free-to-air without any clashes.  Endeavour to provide all Victorian teams with a minimum of 7 matches produced by Seven Network.

Other considerations  Endeavouring to work around broader community needs and events, for example: o the RSL’s ANZAC Day match timing requirements; and o community sporting and other events which impact on the use of AFL venues or anticipated attendances at AFL matches.  Schedule matches on dates which where possible enable state and local governments to achieve tourism goals and not clash with other events in those markets (eg – festivals in Launceston and Hobart; various marathons in certain markets, and so on)

THE ‘WEIGHTED RULE’ – Double Match-Ups TOP SIX MIDDLE SIX BOTTOM SIX

T6 v T6 M6 v T6 B6 v T6

Minimum 2 return meetings Minimum 1 return meeting Minimum 0 return meetings SIX TOP Maximum 3 return meetings Maximum 2 return meetings Maximum 1 return meeting

T6 v M6 M6 v M6 B6 v M6

Minimum 1 return meeting Minimum 2 return meetings Minimum 1 return meeting SIX

MIDDLE Maximum 2 return meetings Maximum 3 return meetings Maximum 2 return meetings

T6 v B6 M6 v B6 B6 v B6

Minimum 0 return meetings Minimum 1 return meeting Minimum 2 return meetings MSIX BOTTO Maximum 1 return meeting Maximum 2 return meetings Maximum 3 return meetings

TOP SIX MIDDLE SIX BOTTOM SIX Hawthorn Port Adelaide Essendon Carlton Geelong Cats Hawthorn Sydney Swans Port Adelaide GWS GIANTS Geelong Cats Hawthorn Port Adelaide Sydney Swans Adelaide Crows Western Bulldogs Fremantle Geelong Cats Essendon North Melbourne Fremantle Richmond Hawthorn Adelaide Crows Geelong Cats Sydney Swans Collingwood North Melbourne Port Adelaide Richmond Fremantle Melbourne North Melbourne Hawthorn Richmond Essendon St Kilda North Melbourne Collingwood North Melbourne Essendon Richmond Carlton Fremantle Collingwood Fremantle Adelaide Crows Western Bulldogs West Coast Eagles Gold Coast SUNS St Kilda Port Adelaide West Coast Eagles Adelaide Crows Brisbane Lions Geelong Cats Gold Coast SUNS Geelong Cats Essendon Carlton Collingwood Richmond Melbourne Sydney Swans West Coast Eagles Brisbane Lions Gold Coast SUNS Adelaide Crows GWS GIANTS Hawthorn Richmond Brisbane Lions Carlton Collingwood GWS GIANTS Brisbane Lions Port Adelaide Western Bulldogs West Coast Eagles Melbourne

St Kilda North Melbourne Adelaide Crows Carlton Brisbane Lions Gold Coast SUNS Western Bulldogs Carlton Sydney Swans GWS GIANTS Gold Coast SUNS Melbourne

St Kilda Western Bulldogs Fremantle Melbourne Collingwood GWS GIANTS

St Kilda Western Bulldogs Essendon St Kilda GWS GIANTS West Coast Eagles Melbourne ends