AFL scraps opening round for the start of the 2027 season

Updated September 2, 2026 — 4:02pm,first published 11:33am

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In today’s AFL Briefing:

The AFL has confirmed it has abolished the opening round concept for 2027.

Carlton coach Josh Fraser expects Geelong’s Max Holmes to return for the elimination final.

The finalists have been named for goal and mark of the year. What do you think?

Carlton young gun Cooper Lord has opened up on his battle with a bacterial infection.

AFL reveals key dates for 2027

Roy Ward

The AFL’s opening round concept has been scrapped, with round 1 returning in 2027 in a traditional start to the new season on either Wednesday, March 17 or Thursday, March 18.

The AFL announced the plans on Wednesday, with the start to next season slightly delayed by the 150th anniversary Test match between Australia and England at the MCG from March 11 to 15.

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The 24-round home-and-away season will finish on August 30, with Gather Round scheduled from April 8 to 11, with opening round abolished.

The grand final will played on October 2, while dates for pre-season games and AFL State of Origin are still be the made public.

AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon said the league wanted to give fans clarity so they could plan ahead for 2027.

“To accommodate the historic 150th anniversary Test match at the MCG next March, we have been working through alternative options to deliver the start of the AFL season,” Dillon said.

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“After important feedback from fans and stakeholders and consultation with clubs and broadcasters, round 1 will see the return of a traditional nine-game round played across the country.

“Before we get there, we are focused on making the end to the 2026 AFL premiership season one to remember, after an all-time record-breaking home and away attendance and the inaugural wildcard finals delivering record broadcast and crowd numbers.

“The passion of footy fans is unmatched. We’re looking forward to another four big matches this coming weekend across Western Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia.”

The AFL will confirm the opening night of the season – and the feature match-up – when the fixture is released at a later date.

Blues prepare for Cats star to return for knockout final

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Roy Ward

Carlton will prepare for Geelong star Max Holmes to return for their elimination final at the MCG on Friday night.

Holmes hasn’t played since fracturing his ankle in round 19 but is pushing for a return as the Cats try to find a way to beat the Blues who have become one of the form sides of the AFL since Fraser took charge.

Fraser was typically calm at his press conference on Wednesday, admitting he would prepare for both scenarios but expected Holmes to play.

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“Both. I think we have to be prepared for him to play and for him not to be available to play,” Fraser said when asked about the Cats playmaker.

“He’s a proven player who adds a lot to their side and, at this stage, I’m erring on the side of him being available.”

While the Blues don’t want to get too caught up with opposition match-ups, Fraser did admit Holmes makes a big difference to Geelong.

“[It’s] significant when you pair him with Bailey Smith and their running capacity they bring and ball-winning ability,” Fraser said.

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“That poses some real challenge for us, but what we’ve tried to do ... is not tie ourselves in knots around the opposition and continue to focus on what we do well.

“It’s always that balance in being well-prepared for the opposition strengths and making sure you are prepared to bring yours to the table.”

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One concern for the Blues will be defender Nick Haynes who wasn’t sighted at training on Wednesday morning and still needs to prove his fitness after playing through an ankle issue in the wildcard win over Melbourne.

Haynes may still be able to prove his fitness closer to game time, and his experience and poise are important to Carlton’s defence.

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“It’s fair to say he was a bit sore post game, and he’s probably slowly progressed quite well throughout the week, the early parts of the week,” Fraser said, speaking before training on Wednesday.

“So he’ll need to train again today to prove his fitness, but we’re hopeful on that one.”

Fraser was coy about the prospect of forward Will Hayward returning to the side after failing to prove his fitness last game.

Hayward joined his teammates for training on Wednesday and looked in promising shape, completing some agility drills on his injured ankle during warmups before media were asked to leave the session.

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“He needs to train and get through training, and we need to then make an assessment on whether he’s fit to perform,” Fraser said.

“So that’s the same approach we’ve taken with all our players this year. But we’re hopeful that he’s in a better place this time around than what he was last week.

“He did a power of work to get himself to a point to be considered last week.

“Ultimately, we felt like he wasn’t ready, so we’re interested to see what version we get of him today. But I do know that he’s left no stone unturned in trying to be ready to play.”

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Hayward kicked three goals in the Blues’ win over the Cats round 12 and will give his side a vital dose of finals experience if he can play.

“The way Will plays the position we want him to play is what we will look at,” Fraser said.

“And he’s a quality player. He’s added enormously to our playing group, both from what you see on field, but the character he is as well.

“So he’s an important part of what we’ve done so far this year, and yeah, if he’s fully fit, then he’ll be a great addition for us.”

Pickett chases the double in mark, goal-of-the-year awards

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Roy Ward

The AFL have announced three finalists for mark of the year and goal of the year awards for 2026.

Have a look below to see the finalists for each award and vote in our polls for who you think should take home the honours. And drop us a comment if you think someone was hard done by and missed out.

Melbourne’s Kysaiah Pickett is in line to take the rare double as he’s nominated for both awards.

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The All-Australian selection panel will decide the winners who will be announced on Brownlow Medal night on September 21.

Mark of the year

Round seven: Kysaiah Pickett (Melbourne v Richmond)

Pickett capped off a best-on-ground performance with this flying mark, leaping off the ribcage of hapless Tiger Campbell Gray for a spectacular grab.

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“It was pretty epic. You saw it coming from a mile away [and thought], ‘Surely he’s not going to have a crack at this’. Incredible, unbelievable mark,” Demons coach Steven King told Seven.

Round 12: Shai Bolton (Fremantle v Geelong)

Bolton has won this honour before and his latest nomination is a big chance again.

He used Geelong’s Jake Kolodjashnij as a stepladder and teammate Patrick Voss as a platform before pulling in a breathtaking mark. At the time, the Dockers trailed the Cats, but they stormed back to win.

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Round 24: Nick Watson (Hawthorn v West Coast)

When you talk about degree of difficulty, Watson’s speccy off the back of fellow small Liam Baker would have got full marks from the toughest of Russian judges.

The clean grab came during a match that had been marred by torrential rain, and yet “The Wizard” never looked like dropping the yellow bar of soap. His cheeky exchange of smiles with Baker added to the fun of the moment.

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Goal of the year

Opening round: Bailey Williams (Western Bulldogs v Brisbane Lions)

Williams sold candy to half of Queensland in this cracking goal as the Bulldog danced around Oscar Allen and Harris Andrews before twice faking out Darcy Wilmot and then snapping the goal.

“He sold candy to Wilmot and sold him another bag on the way through,” Garry Lyon exclaimed on Kayo Sports.

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Round 12: Kysaiah Pickett (Melbourne v GWS)

Traeger Park in Alice Springs has seen countless wonder goals over the years and Pickett pulled out something incredible in the mid-season clash with the Giants.

He took the ball on the right boundary, then, off one step, propelled the shot through the goals on the tightest of angles.

Watch the expressions on the fans behind him; they were gobsmacked. Cousin Latrelle Pickett was the first to join the celebrations.

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Round 24: Conor McKenna (Brisbane Lions v Collingwood)

A touch of Gaelic footy, a dash of soccer and some luck of the Irish – Conor McKenna’s final-round wonder strike was a blink-and-you’d-miss-it moment of magic. The Lion deflected a Magpie handball with his left hand before sprinting to the ball and soccering it off the outside of his right boot from an impossible angle. “That was no chance, no chance,” screamed James Brayshaw on Seven. “That’s goal of the year.”

We will see if the votes, and judges, agree.

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‘You don’t take health for granted’: Young Blue opens up on hospital scare

Hannah Kennelly

In March this year, Carlton midfielder Cooper Lord was marooned inside a hospital ward with a leg wound that had to remain open as he battled a staph infection.

The 21-year-old had surgery and there was a serious danger of the bacterial infection spreading to his bloodstream, joints or organs.

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As he spent four days in hospital, he was forced to watch on as his team coughed up a 43-point lead to lose to Melbourne in round three. The remainder of his season was in doubt, and the Blues were struggling.

“It was a little bit scary,” Lord said. “I just got a pretty severe infection in my leg, which ended up needing surgery to get [it] out of me, and the whole healing process when you have an open wound in your leg is pretty solid.

“So to be honest, I’m grateful to be back out in the park. When something like that happens, you don’t take health for granted.”

He explained why his wound had to be kept open during his recovery.

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“With an infection, you’ve got to leave it open … so you can clean it properly and make sure that there’s no more infection. The medical team were amazing at the way they supported me through that and helped me through those few weeks,” he said.

In April, Lord was dropped from the senior squad following a narrow loss to Fremantle and spent time in the VFL working on his midfield craft. The Blues slumped to 1-8 before parting ways with coach Michael Voss.

But Lord and Carlton have both completed remarkable recoveries this season.

Three months later, Lord was finally picked again for the senior side in round 19. He was on the field when Carlton faced Melbourne again last week , this time in a sudden-death wildcard final – which the Blues won.

On Friday, Carlton will face Geelong in an elimination final at a sold-out MCG – a reality Lord admits he’s still struggling to wrap his head around.

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“To be out there on the biggest of stages in finals is something you dream of as a kid. So it’s pretty special to be doing it,” he said.

“ I remember the night before surgery, I was watching the Melbourne game earlier in the year, just from a hospital bed, and it was just crazy how things changed so quickly.

“So, as I reflect, I’m sure I’ll do a bit more of that post the end of the season. Happy to be out there and having fun alongside my best mates.”

One of those mates is Jagga Smith – who recently clinched the AFL’s Rising Star award, narrowly beating teammate Harry Dean. Smith and Lord were schoolmates at Scotch College, though they had different routes to Carlton – Smith was the overall No.3 pick at the 2024 national draft, while Lord was overlooked in 2023 but joined the Blues via the mid-season draft the following year.

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For Lord, the wildcard victory over Melbourne – when he was tasked with shutting down Demon Kysaiah Pickett – has given him and his teammates a taste of finals success, and they are desperate for more.

“We’re so lucky at this football club to have some of the best fans in the comp, and I remember walking off the ground last week and just talking to some of the boys about how amazing the feeling was and the noise and the energy.

“It’s a pretty addictive feeling, hopefully we were able to replicate that this week.”

Coach Josh Fraser was full of praise for the youngster this week.

“He is really diligent, disciplined, a great character and works hard – he’s everything you want in a young player,” Fraser said.

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“He’s got parts of his game that he continues to grow and we’ve given him some big assignments in the last fortnight and he’s handled them really well.”

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More:

AFL 2026

Geelong Cats

Carlton Blues

AFL injury ward

Roy Ward is a sports writer, live blogger and breaking news journalist. He's been writing for The Age since 2010.Connect via X or email.

Hannah Kennelly is an award-winning sports reporter and Formula 1 writer at The Age.Connect via email.

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