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“This is wrong”: Whateley’s huge AFL ladder issue after Suns v Dons postponement
Lachlan Geleit • March 9th, 2025 2:10 pm
Ladder purists weren’t huge fans of the AFL’s decision to push back the postponed Gold Coast v Essendon game until Round 24.
With both the Suns and Bombers now playing two games in the competition’s final round, the ladder will be out of shape for the rest of the season as both clubs lag behind the rest by a game, particularly once the mid-season byes are accounted for.
SEN host Gerard Whateley is one of those ladder fanatics who was particularly displeased by the league’s call, labelling the decision to put the fixture out of whack as a ‘ridiculous way to run a competition’.
Instead of shifting the game all the way back to Round 24, Whateley agreed with the sentiment that the teams should have played twice - even against each other in succession - in Round 17 when they are currently scheduled to face off given the AFL hasn’t locked in any dates for slated games beyond Round 16.
He discussed how the ladder will now shape up with Sam Edmund on SEN Crunch Time.
Edmund: “I thought of you Gerard, once the AFL made the decision that they did to postpone the two games, particularly the Essendon v Gold Coast game, given I know you’re a ladder purist.
“The ladder's going to be bent out of shape all season. How are you feeling about that?”
Whateley: “This is wrong, and this is not about me, it's about the whole football public.
“Your competition should make sense.”
Edmund: “Two games in Round 24 at this stage for those two clubs.”
Whateley: “At no stage from today onwards, will the ladder make sense.
“That's a ridiculous way to run a competition, and there were alternatives.”
Edmund: “Is this the best of a bad bunch of options?”
Whateley: “No, the best solution was the one that Tom Morris was talking about which was for the first time to play a two-game series.
“So when these two teams meet in Round 17 (play twice in that Round).
“Remember, there’s no fixture (locked in) beyond Round 16, there’s just the slate of games.
“So they had all of that open without having to juggle things, and you could have got this great dynamic.
“For the first time ever, they could have played here then four days later play there, and it's exactly the same for both clubs. Other sports do this all the time.
“That could have built into something really enticing instead of kicking it right down to the end and relying on sheer dumb luck.
“The ladder should make sense at key moments in the year, and I reckon it's a fail that it won’t."
