Swans chat 2019 Fixture

[KSAS]

The club has requested more day games (afternoon & twilight) for 2019. It seems our membership base are more convenienced with day games than night, which became an issue this year & potentially affecting membership renewals. As a result, I hope we start winning at the SCG again & make it the fortress we were accustomed to!

Being Melbourne based, I also hope we get 8 Vic games again next year.

Swans request more day games
Swans request more day games - sydneyswans.com.au

[neilfws]

It's good that the club are flagging this as something they want, whilst making it clear that fixtures are not their decision.

I see we're also getting the largest scoreboard in the Southern hemisphere - again Must be a bid to take that crown from Perth.

New SCG scoreboards in 2019 - sydneyswans.com.au

[R-1]

I'll be really glad for some games less aggressively unfriendly to a daytrip from Canberra

[mcs]

I'll be really glad for some games less aggressively unfriendly to a daytrip from Canberra

You and me both R1!

I'd be happy enough with a 7-4 split of night v day/twilight games. I understand why we need the night games of course and the bigger profile that comes with them, but we need to strike a decent balance between the two. I'd expect that is where it will land, but would love it to be 6-5. Really depends on who we get at home, and broader AFL priorities of course!

[liz]

I won't be holding my breath, expecting a better balanced fixture next year, until it actually happens. I believe the club has been asking for a different mix between night and day games for a few seasons now, and yet the number of daytime games has decreased in recent seasons, not increased. I reckon that AFL (and C7) place more emphasis on what is convenient to them, rather than what clubs actually request.

Sydney are a useful side to slot into Friday night spots because they can usually be relied upon to be at least competitive onfield (reducing the risk of a prime-time on-sided game that everyone loves to complain about). And for Friday night games hosted in Sydney, the broadcasters don't have to concern themselves with that pesky time difference (even the half-hour time difference to SA).

And while I don't normally go in for conspiracy theories, I can't help wondering whether making the Swans' fixture as unfriendly as possible for families with young children doesn't help the AFL with something else on its agenda - to underpin the long term supporter base of the Giants.

[CureTheSane]

I'll be really glad for some games less aggressively unfriendly to a daytrip from Canberra

I have a business in Canberra so I visit 4 to 5 times a year.
Never been to Manuka and would love for another game up there.

[Captain]

And while I don't normally go in for conspiracy theories, I can't help wondering whether making the Swans' fixture as unfriendly as possible for families with young children doesn't help the AFL with something else on its agenda - to underpin the long term supporter base of the Giants.

That's actually an interesting point and has some merit.

The AFL have proven through trade bans, removing COLA etc that they are happy to interfere to get the result they want and I wouldn't put this past them.

[Kafka's Ghost]

The first round has been announced, and once again the Swans are playing away, while the Giants have Sydney to themselves, so your conspiracy theory may have legs after all.

[MattW]

The first round has been announced, and once again the Swans are playing away, while the Giants have Sydney to themselves, so your conspiracy theory may have legs after all.

Although worth noting the Swans played at home and the Giants away in the first round the 3 years before that (2015-2017). (For completeness the Giants hosted the Swans in round one the three years before that.)

[KSAS]

We play the Bulldogs first up in Melbourne at Marvel stadium (formerly known as Etihad) on Saturday night:

AFL reveals opening round fixture for 2019 - AFL.com.au

[Captain]

Nice to start with a somewhat easy game.

[Mel_C]

It's an away game so it should be a win ????.

Was at my cousin's bridal shower today and most of the family are Bulldog supporters. They had framed premiership memorabilia on the wall and it brought up bad memories from that day ????.

[liz]

The first round has been announced, and once again the Swans are playing away, while the Giants have Sydney to themselves, so your conspiracy theory may have legs after all.

There are some constraints around fixturing, particularly at the start of the season. In particular, the Easter Show affects the Giants' access to their home ground for a few weeks early in the season. Easter is late in 2019, so it's not unreasonable for the AFL to want to maximise home games for the Giants before the Easter Show starts. And given that they generally have us playing away when the Giants are at home, that affects us. I don't see that as part of any (imagined or real) fixturing conspiracy against us. It's just dealing with the situations that exist.

We used to have issues gaining access to the SCG in the first week or two of the season because the cricket took precedence - ie the SCG wasn't available until it was known that the NSW Sheffield Shield team wouldn't be hosting the finals series there. And since the AFL does its fixturing long before that can be known, it generally meant we didn't typically have games fixtured there in the first couple of weeks of the season. If you look back at the fixture until a couple of seasons ago, you'll see that our first home game was invariably at Stadium Australia.

I suspect everyone now acknowledges that the SCG really isn't needed to host a Sheffield Shield final, even in the unlikely event of the NSW team qualifying to host it. So few people turn up to watch that there are many other grounds that could accommodate it. But there will be greater than normal constraints around SCG fixturing for 2019, with the Waratahs and some RL teams (Roosters? maybe others?) using it as their primary home ground while the ground next door is out of action. I have no idea whether the AFL gets to do its fixture first and then the others fit in around them, or whether they all get to sit around a table together with a scheduling board and several rolls of coloured tape and thrash things out together.

[erica]

But there will be greater than normal constraints around SCG fixturing for 2019, with the Waratahs and some RL teams (Roosters? maybe others?) using it as their primary home ground while the ground next door is out of action. I have no idea whether the AFL gets to do its fixture first and then the others fit in around them, or whether they all get to sit around a table together with a scheduling board and several rolls of coloured tape and thrash things out together.

I read this week that the Swans have priority over the NRL games, since they are a permanent tenant.

[liz]

I read this week that the Swans have priority over the NRL games, since they are a permanent tenant.

I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case. I also think (though don't follow NRL so may be talking nonsense) that the NFL uses a rolling fixture, not fixing time slots for all games at the start of the season but changing things as they go along. If so, that would also mean that the AFL would have to be given priority.