The AFL's Opening Round structure has become a point of contention as players and coaches voice frustration with the early-season bye complications it creates. Former Essendon coach James Hird says he can't see what the Bombers are trying to do on the field in their dismal start to the AFL season, and his comments have fed into broader concerns about the fixture format.
The 2026 AFL season features 23-match home-and-away season over 25 rounds, with a five-week finals series featuring the top ten clubs to occur for the first time. The Opening Round itself spans across New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria, beginning on 5 March. However, the fixture creates a structural challenge: the sides that compete in Opening Round will also have early season breaks in Rounds 2, 3 and 4, while other teams do not play their first match until Round 1.
This creates an uneven playing field. No team who has had two byes (due to Opening Round) will play against a team who hasn't had their bye yet, yet the scheduling imbalance has generated player frustration. The early byes disrupt team continuity and pre-season momentum precisely when sides are attempting to establish their patterns and build cohesion.
The bye rounds will take place over Rounds 12 to 16 and will feature at least seven games on each weekend, but the damage from early disruption remains a genuine concern. Senior Bomber Kyle Langford said Essendon buckle under pressure, their defence isn't up to AFL standard and it's on the players, not coach Brad Scott, to fix it, pointing to execution failures that early byes may exacerbate.
The AFL's reasoning for Opening Round has been centred on expanding the game's footprint and building momentum across eastern Australia. Yet the bye trade-off presents a genuine fixture problem. Teams playing early games gain no advantage; instead, they face rhythmic disruption at the season's most critical moment for team development. Whether the league will reassess the structure remains to be seen, but the emerging consensus among players and former coaches suggests the cost may outweigh the benefit.