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Full Noise by SN
The Live Sport Bible is here!“The invisible game”: Whateley's gripe with Friday double-headers
Jaiden Sciberras • May 17th, 2026 1:34 pm
The AFL has remained consistent in their venture with Friday night double-headers, and Gerard Whateley has remained consistent in his criticism.
Round 10 saw yet another overlapping fixture on Friday, with Gold Coast’s 25-point win over Port Adelaide in Darwin completely overshadowed by Sydney’s nail-biting win over the Pies.
Just 40 minutes between the two start times, fans watching on from across the country would have only caught a portion of the Suns clash.
And given the contest in the Top End remains a celebration of First Nations culture within Sir Doug Nicholls Round, Whateley was rather disappointed with the management of the hidden fixture.
“The second game on Friday night – all it does, having the double header, is make one game invisible,” Whateley told SEN Crunch Time.
“This is the invisible game, and while I’ve heard the argument around attendance, it makes no sense to me.
“The last couple (Port Adelaide versus Western Bulldogs, Gold Coast versus Port Adelaide) … The Port Adelaide home crowd would have been no different in a different timeslot to what it was on Friday night (last week).
“And the Darwin game just gets completely lost by playing it under cover of a blockbuster game – your Marngrook game.
“So, you had Marngrook competing with a Darwin game during Sir Doug Nicholls Round. That to me is self-defeating.”
The AFL are not shying away from the double-headers, with next week’s Dreamtime clash between Richmond and Essendon shadowing Fremantle’s hosting of St Kilda.
Thankfully, the recently released fixtures vault double-headers until Round 17, with only three remaining – of what has been confirmed - following this weekend.
