The 2017 Australian Football League season is the 121st season of the elite Australian rules football competition. There are 18 teams competing in the league, the same as the previous five seasons. The first game was played on Thursday, 23 March, and the season is scheduled to conclude with the 2017 AFL Grand Final on Saturday, 30 September.
Rule changes
The following amendments were made to the Laws of the Game for the 2017 season:[1]
Rules relating to around-the-ground ruck contests were amended such that only the nominated ruckman for each team is permitted in the contest, eliminating the option for another player to enter the contest and take the tap, otherwise known as the "third man up" strategy.[2] This was done to make ruck contests easier to adjudicate, to reduce the risk of injuries to ruckmen, and to increase the value of the skill of ruckwork.[2]
A more stringent interpretation of deliberate rushed behinds was introduced, by allowing the umpire to consider prior opportunity, distance from the goal line and degree of applied pressure when judging whether or not to pay a free kick.
Adjustments were made to the interpretation of high tackles, giving the umpire more discretion to call play-on when he deems that the tackled player is responsible for the high contact. This was introduced to discourage the practice of ducking into a tackle, dropping the knees when tackled or trying to shrug off a tackle to earn a free kick.[3]
A more stringent interpretation of punches to the body was introduced to the match review panel and tribunal to allow for suspensions to be imposed; and, to allow fines to be imposed for low impact jumper punches.
The pre-season series of matches returned in 2017 as the newly renamed JLT Community Series, which featured 27 practice matches played over 25 days, beginning on 16 February and ending on 12 March. The matches were stand-alone, with no overall winner of the series. Each team played three games, many at suburban or regional venues, while all games were televised on Fox Footy.
Premiership season
Notable features of the draw include:
The naming rights of York Park were bought by University of Tasmania from Aurora Energy in the week prior to the full fixture being released, and will be known as the University of Tasmania Stadium.[4]
Due to poor results in 2016, Richmond will not feature on Friday nights during the premiership season, however they do start the season with two consecutive Thursday night matches.[7]
Port Adelaide and Gold Coast will compete in the first AFL premiership match outside of Australia and New Zealand when they meet in round eight at Jiangwan Stadium in Shanghai, China, with the match to be televised live on the Seven Network.[8][9] Both teams will have a bye the following round, while the remaining sixteen teams will have their byes from rounds 11 to 13.[10]
Due to redevelopment, Simonds Stadium will be unavailable until round nine, when Geelong will play a Friday night match against reigning premiers the Western Bulldogs.[11]
Following their improved form in 2016, Greater Western Sydney will play three Friday night premiership matches during the season, in rounds six, seven and twenty-one.[12]
The Western Bulldogs will also compete in the first AFL premiership match to be played at Eureka Stadium in Ballarat when they face Port Adelaide in round 22. The match will also be the first AFL premiership match in a Victorian regional venue (other than Geelong) since a one-off round of promotional matches held in 1952 VFL season.[13]
The crowd of 78,294 for Essendon vs. Hawthorn is the highest ever crowd in a home-and-away game between these two teams.
The match between Adelaide and Greater Western Sydney started five minutes earlier than initially scheduled due to the application of the heat policy, whereby each quarter break was extended by two minutes.[15]
Bold – Home game X – Bye Opponent for round listed above margin This table can be sorted by margin, winners are represented in the first half of each column, and losers are represented in the second half of each column once sorted
The International Rules Series returns in November 2017, with Australia hosting two test matches. The series will be played on an aggregate-points basis, with the winner to be the team that scores the highest amount over the two test matches. The matches will be played on 11 and 18 November 2017 at venues yet to be decided. The Australian team will again be comprised exclusively of players who have won All-Australian honours in their careers.[36]
