Racing
League
Rugby
Cricket
Golf
Olympics
Football
Netball
Motorsport
Combat Sports
Basketball
Other Sports
Sport Nation
Full Noise by SN
11AM: NZ World Cup squad namedBlues and Bombers thrown into prime-time purgatory
Sam Edmund • May 14th, 2026 9:51 am
Carlton and Essendon have been banished from prime-time football.
The AFL will today release Rounds 16-22 of the 2026 fixture, with the Blues and Bombers ripped off broadway completely for the first time in years.
Neither club has been given a Thursday or Friday night game in this seven-game block after the league finally lost patience with the Victorian giants.
It is a far cry from this time last year when Carlton and Essendon played 10 Thursday and Friday night games between them in the last third of the season.
Both clubs were facing similar struggles at this stage of 2025, with Essendon sitting 11th and Carlton 13th when the fixtures were locked in. They are 16th (Carlton) and 17th (Essendon) right now.
Their prominence in prime-time became a major debate late last season.
But with Michael Voss resigning, only two wins between them and with both entrenched in the bottom three on the ladder, the AFL wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice.
Carlton was last frozen out of the prime-time slots completely in the back half of 2019, while Essendon last missed out completely in 2022.
Sydney will instead be heavily rewarded for their scintillating form with more lucrative slots, while Geelong and Brisbane will also be prominent as the AFL puts its trust in the competition’s form sides.
Calls for a standalone Showdown have been heard, but the Port Adelaide-Adelaide Round 16 meeting will have to make do with a Saturday night as Brisbane-Sydney and Hawthorn-GWS take priority on Thursday and Friday night, respectively.
Friday night footy pioneers North Melbourne will return to that timeslot for the first time in seven years with a Round 18 meeting with Collingwood.
The Roos will also get a Round 22 Thursday night game against the Western Bulldogs.
There will be two more Friday night overlaps in this next fixture block, with the AFL happy with how they’re going.
The league is also mindful of the inaugural wildcard weekend and giving the four teams involved a seven-day break heading into a likely Friday and Saturday night set of games in that weekend.
By playing a Thursday night and two Friday night games, the AFL gains more flexibility in its fixturing.
