Gerard Whateley has seen enough.
It’s time for the AFL to lock in a 12:40pm (AEST) start for the first of three Sunday games.
In Round 6, Hawthorn and Adelaide’s nailbiter at UTAS Stadium, which started at 1:10pm, was not given the free air it deserved with the Carlton v St Kilda 3:20pm game kicking in before the final siren.
It is not the first time a close encounter has been cannibalised in 2023 either, and in Whateley’s mind there is a simple solution to solve this fixture issue.
“The Sunday time slots are ludicrous,” he said on SEN’s Whateley.
“I’m sitting on the couch and was so enjoying Adelaide and Hawthorn. Scores are level, Hawthorn kicked the goal to break the deadlock, and the opening siren sounds at Carlton and St Kilda.
“I’m deeply invested in Carlton and St Kilda, so I have to flick it off and I spend the next 20 minutes going back and forward and not fully appreciating what’s happening (in Launceston).
“It’s a 12:40 start. 12:40 clears the way for 3:20. This is the easiest thing to fix I’ve ever seen in the fixture.”
The 2023 fixture is locked in until Round 15 with four of the next five weeks housing 1:10 starts on each three-game Sunday.
Then the four bye rounds commence where there will be three 1:10 starts without consequence on Sundays holding just two matches (the other round being a 3:20 start).
But from Round 16 onwards, the first game simply must be a 12:40 start according to Whateley.
“We have a block of games that are unscheduled from Round 16 onwards. The early start on Sunday should be 12:40,” he added.
“This is the third time this year that the first game has been a cliffhanger and the second game, which I was deeply interested in, you have to flick.
“Ridiculous.
“There’s going to be an overlap with twilight if you don’t make it a night game, and that’s a totally different discussion.
“But early game into the 3:20 game is so easily fixed. Blow the siren at 12:40, stop cannibalising your own product.”
David King asked: “Do you think they’ll do it?”
Whateley replied: “They should do it (but), no.
“I wish they would.
“12:40 is so easy to achieve. There’s no difference between 12:40 and 1:10, accept that you get the neat flow into the next game.
“Stop climbing on top of each other with the games.”
The next Sunday 1:10pm fixture is Essendon v Geelong which will run into the Richmond v Gold Coast match at 3:20pm.
Port Adelaide and Essendon’s Round 8 clash will cross over into the Collingwood v Sydney meeting, which could also be problematic.