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Full Noise by SN
Running It Straight: 6pm SN ExtraDuff: The AFL is in danger of losing equalisation
Mark Duffield • March 17th, 2026 9:40 pm
The AFL is in danger of becoming the most unequalised equalised competition in the history of sport.
It is equally at risk of hurting its heartland in its rush to make its teams in the Northern States more financially viable, via accelerated on field success.
Brisbane have played in the last three grand finals, won the last two flags – but harvested one of the best kids in the draft Daniel Annable who made his AFL debut at the weekend.
Gold Coast broke through for its first finals berth and first finals win in 2025, brought in Christian Petracca – took a punt on Jamarra Ugle-Hagan and still had the means to take top five draft picks Zeke Uwland and Dylan Patterson.
The AFL has traditionally played the strong against the strong and the weak against the weak in early ground in a bid to create close matches and hope for all supporters. It means the more successful teams should face tough teams early. But in the first month of the season the Suns face 2025 cellar dwellers the Eagles, Richmond and Melbourne in quick succession in the early month. Tougher teams come later – but a flying start and the momentum and confidence that builds into a club are well and truly on the cards.
The AFL doesn’t have many original thoughts. It doesn’t take much to arrive at the opinion that Opening round is a reaction to the NRL’s ambitious annual Las Vegas trip.
Gather Round in Adelaide in Adelaide is the response to the NRL’s highly successful Magic Round in Brisbane.
Gather Round has been a raging success – but it comes from a governing body who appears to follow the motto that one good compromise deserves another. It meant one extra trip each across the Nullarbor for WA’s teams – already the two clubs with far and away the heaviest travel burden which in turn led to the WA taxpayer funded deal which brings North Melbourne to WA for home games against our two teams to take our interstate trip quota each year back to 10 – the number it stood at before Gather Round was introduced.
The AFL will parade this round like a win. But it is really just a return to the previous status quo – and West Australian taxpayers have had to pay for the privilege. We will pay about $2.5 million a year for the games – one at Optus Stadium -that’s this weekend involving the Eagles– and one at Bunbury’s Hands Oval later involving Fremantle.
In other words the AFL didn’t make the draw fairer because it believes in fairness as a guiding principle. It made the draw fairer because we paid for it. This might be business – but in a sporting competition its not a very noble way of doing business.
Meanwhile in the beating heart of the AFL’s heartland – Melbourne – things are looking a bit grim in 2026. The Bulldogs are flying and Hawthorn look formidable but Richmond, Carlton and Essendon are all struggling. Collingwood had Adelaide running on fumes on Saturday night and still couldn’t beat them.
The Hawthorn-Essendon game – the first clash between the two arch rivals who genuinely hate each other since the failed attempt to wood Zach Merrett in last year’s trade period was billed as a grudge match. It was tipped to pull a crowd of 80,000 as it had for the previous two seasons. It drew 71,000 fans. The previous night Carlton and Richmond clashed. It was the first time in four seasons that the fixture – the traditional season opener before Opening Round – had drawn fewer than 80,000 fans.
I often refer to Western Australia as the wheel that doesn’t squeak and so doesn’t get any AFL oil. The two WA clubs are not only financially viable but they also contribute financially to footy development in the state. People tend to hold memberships because they are worried about being permanently locked out of our 60,000 seat stadium.
But they can still vote with their feet. The Eagles drew crowds of more than 50,000 at 15 of their first 16 games at the stadium in 2018 and 2019. They have drawn 50,000 at three of their last 20 and less than 40,000 four times over the same period. The Dockers crowds are steady because there is a sense of optimism about them. But Eagles fans know their team is off the pace – and likely to stay off the pace for a little while yet. The same could be said of Essendon. Where are Carlton at? How long will Richmond take?
The AFL keeps looking at the NRL for its inspiration. It needs to look at Tasmania as its cautionary tale. There a football heartland got overrun by basketball after years of neglect – right under its nose. The AFL wants to grow its code. That will not be possible if it mortally wounds its heartland states.
