Kane Cornes has taken aim at the AFL’s Round 1 fixture release, labelling it a “free kick” for Victorian teams.
AFL broadcasting and fixture boss Travis Auld mentioned in his statement bringing Melbourne and all the “cities hosting matches” to life, with every Victorian club playing in their home state to kickstart the season.
Four games feature Victorian clubs playing against one another, while North Melbourne will host West Coast and St Kilda hosts Fremantle.
Optus Stadium in Perth is not available for Round 1 due to the timing of an Ed Sheeran concert.
Cornes wonders why the Victorian sides have been given an early leg up.
“Why is it still so Victorian centric?” Cornes asked on SEN’s Sportsday.
“I read the press release from the AFL and Travis Auld and he says all Victorian based clubs are going to play in Melbourne in Round 1. Another free kick.
“Brisbane get shafted. They have this incredible off-season where they get all these recruits and they’ve got to go to Adelaide for a Saturday afternoon twilight timeslot which is dead.
“Travis Auld says they’re going to bring Sydney to life. How is GWS versus Adelaide at Giants Stadium going to bring Sydney to life?
“Sydney – they make the Grand Final, they’ve got Lance Franklin in his last year, they play exciting footy and they’re playing on the Gold Coast.
“While Hawthorn who won eight games last year, they traded everyone and are essentially going to go backwards. They play Essendon who haven’t won a final in 18 years at the MCG in a marquee slot.
“They are only focused on Melbourne. There are some issues in Perth with an Ed Sheeran concert … but they want it to look good on a press release that they’ve broken an attendance record. That’s the only thing. At the neglect of a national competition.
“Poor old West Coast have to play North Melbourne on a Sunday at Marvel in front of 13,000.
“More free kicks to the Victorian teams.”
The AFL will release the fixture for the first 15 rounds later in the week, including further details surrounding Round 5’s magic round, set to take place entirely in South Australia.