A busy AFL trade period, and the fall-out from some of these deals, means there is plenty for the AFL and its broadcasters to consider ahead of the release of the 2026 fixture.
Amid club requests for next season, here are eight match-ups which should receive prominence.
Could have been friends: Zach Merrett’s first game against Hawthorn will be one to watch next season.Credit: Getty Images
Essendon v Hawthorn
This one, dare we say, merits top billing, for it has more spice than a Thai green curry. Central to this mix is jilted Essendon superstar, Zach Merrett, who failed in his bold bid to be traded to the arch-rival Hawks. Merrett, no doubt, will be particularly keen to put in a best-on-ground performance to reinforce to the Hawks what they missed out on, while highlighting his commitment to the Bombers (at least for next season). Remember, he had met the Hawks late in the season – behind the Bombers’ back – but waited until late in the trade period (perhaps too late) to officially seek a shift. The Hawks were also too slow to get moving, and the two teams could not then agree on the contracted Merrett’s value. The Hawks-Bombers rivalry, authored through their storied grand finals of the 1980s, has endured to this day. This is the eyebrow-raising new chapter set to be a bestseller, and should be staged as early as round one. “[We] can get excited for round one, which is likely to be a home game against Hawthorn with 90,000 [fans likely],” Essendon coach Brad Scott said last month. “They might have a couple there as well, but it’ll be our home game.”
Making a point: The best way for Matt Rowell to respond to Craig McRae is with a dominant on-field performance.Credit: AFL Photos
Gold Coast Suns v Collingwood
There was already plenty to like here. The Suns are the emerging upstarts; the Magpies are clinging to elite status. Their round-18 game this year, the Suns holding at home, was a classic. But the fuse has now really been lit after Craig McRae’s dig at Suns’ star and Brownlow medallist Matt Rowell at, of all places, the Magpies’ best-and-fairest when he jokingly congratulated Nick Daicos for being runner-up in the Brownlow Medal by suggesting “a few more 16-disposal games might get you there next year”. That, of course, was a shot at Rowell, who claimed three Brownlow Medal votes for a 16-disposal game. This wasn’t one of McRae’s finest moments, and the Suns won’t forget.
Starting afresh: Carlton’s dual Coleman medallist Charlie Curnow is now a Sydney Swan.Credit: Eddie Jim
Sydney v Carlton
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