The Australian Football League (AFL) will add an extra week to its finals series from the 2026 season, introducing a wildcard round that gives teams that finish in 9th or 10th position a shot at the premiership.
It’s the biggest change to the finals system since 2000.
Here’s what you need to know.
Change
Currently, the top eight teams on the ladder at the end of the season qualify for the AFL Finals Series.
Under the new finals rules, the top six teams will move straight to the finals.
The teams that finish 7th and 8th will host wildcard games against the teams that finish 9th and 10th — 7th against 10th and 8th against 9th.
The winners of those two games will then be ‘reseeded’ into 7th and 8th positions, based on which team finished higher on the ladder in the regular season.
From there, the finals continue as they have since 2000, when the current system began.
In a statement, CEO Andrew Dillon said the move was designed to give fans a greater number of “games of consequence”, and more finals matches, which are “the best-attended and most-watched on television”.
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Response
A number of former players, including Brendan Fevola, Nick Reiwoldt, and Warren Tredrea, have expressed disappointment with the move.
Criticism has centred on the fact that, under the new system, 10 of the league’s 18 teams will be in the finals series.
Responding to the criticisms at a press conference today, Dillon said: “It makes that gap between sixth and seventh something clubs will strive for.”
Dillson said the move is overwhelmingly supported by the clubs’ CEOs.
Other sports
The AFL is not the first sport to introduce a wildcard-style pathway to the finals.
In 2020, the NBA expanded its finals series, which comprised 16 of 30 teams, to 20 teams.
Teams that finish in the top six of their region progress to the finals, while teams placed between 7th and 10th compete in a ‘play-in tournament’ for the two remaining spots in the top eight.
