The AFL finals haven’t changed in 25 years, until now. What is the wildcard round?

The Conversation · 🇦🇺 public Australia · Aug 24, 2026 · 849 words · By Tom Hartley; Vaughan Cruickshank

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What to know about The AFL finals haven’t changed in 25 years, until now. What is the wildcard round?

The article explains the introduction of a new 'wildcard round' to the AFL finals series, detailing how the format works and its origins in other sports leagues. It discusses the initial negative reactions from critics and the subsequent shift toward acceptance, while providing a historical overview of changes to the league's finals structure.

Propaganda risk 10%

Claims checked 17

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center83%

Right17%

6 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

This weekend, the AFL will unveil a first: a “wildcard round”.

Why it matters

This round involves two matches to kick off the finals series, in the first change to the league’s finals format in 25 years.

Common ground

On Friday, the Western Bulldogs will host Collingwood in the first wildcard final, with Melbourne then taking on Carlton on Saturday night.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: The AFL finals haven’t changed in 25 years, until now. What is the wildcard round??
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that The teams ranked seven to ten will play in the wildcard round: seventh will play tenth and eighth will play ninth?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://theconversation.com/the-afl-finals-havent-changed-in-25-years-until-now-…

analyticsAnalysis

10%

Propaganda Score

confidence: 95%

Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 17 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 7

check_circle Corroborated 5

verified Verified By Reference 2

verified Verified 2

info Single Source 1

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Claim 1: “The teams ranked seven to ten will play in the wildcard round: seventh will play tenth and eighth will play ninth.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm the specific pairing of 7th vs 10th and 8th vs 9th for the wildcard round.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 AFL season is the 130th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest-level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season features 18 clubs and wil…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_AFL_season

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — AFL may refer to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFL

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Football_League

+ 3 more evidence sources

schedule

Claim 2: “From 1897 to 1900 a round-robin series took place after the regular season.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

verified

Claim 3: “It was introduced to Australia’s National Basketball League and Victorian Football League in 2023.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The provided evidence for this claim consists of irrelevant search results (KASKUS forum posts and unrelated Wikipedia bios) and does not confirm the 2023 introduction of wildcard formats in the NBL or VFL.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Des Ryan (born 6 October 1967) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Richmond in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He is the brother of fellow former Richmond player Stephen Ryan …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Des_Ryan

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Oliver Harry Hayes-Brown (born 28 April 2000) is an Australian sportsman who currently plays Australian rules football with the Richmond Football Club. He previously played basketball, playing one sea…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Hayes-Brown

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Sydney Swans are an Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW)…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Swans

+ 3 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 4: “In recent years the top eight teams have had a week off between the regular season and the start of the finals.”

VERIFIED

Web search results confirm that top-eight teams historically enjoyed a week off between the regular season and the finals.

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web search NEUTRAL — AFL Ladder information including games played, won, drawn, lost, points and percentages from the official website of the Australian Football League.
https://www.afl.com.au/ladder

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web search NEUTRAL — At the end of the regular season, the top six teams advance to a double-elimination playoff bracket that mirrors the Spring Split Structure. Every series matters, and every adjustment counts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK4w5M5LZ7E

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web search NEUTRAL — Top-eight teams now enjoy a week off between the last round of home-and-away season and the first week of finals, a break that helped the Western Bulldogs win the flag from seventh position last seaso…
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/afl/afl-season-2017-sydney-swan…

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Claim 5: “On Friday, the Western Bulldogs will host Collingwood in the first wildcard final, with Melbourne then taking on Carlton on Saturday night.”

CORROBORATED

Three independent web sources confirm the specific matchups: Western Bulldogs vs Collingwood on Friday and Melbourne vs Carlton on Saturday for the 2026 wildcard round.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2025 AFL season was the 129th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest-level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured 18 clubs and ra…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_AFL_season

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier compet…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Bulldogs

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 6: “Since the first AFL/VFL season in 1897, the finals have evolved from four teams (1901–71), to five (1972–90), six (1991–93), eight (1994–2025) and now ten teams.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 7: “From 1931 to 1971, the Page-McIntyre system was implemented.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 8: “The competition settled on a top-four finals structure in 1901”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 9: “This top-four system gave a double chance to the top two teams, but removed the controversial challenge rule for the minor premiers.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 10: “This format was changed after Melbourne won the 1900 premiership after finishing the regular season in sixth (out of eight teams).”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 11: “From 1901 to 1930, the minor premier was guaranteed to play in the grand final. If did not win it, they could challenge the winner to a second grand final.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

verified

Claim 12: “The wildcard concept, sometimes called a “play-in tournament”, has been a fixture of popular sports leagues such as the United States’ Major League Baseball and National Basketball Association for many years.”

VERIFIED

Web search results confirm that MLB uses a wild card system and the NBA uses a Play-In Tournament.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — - NBA Today UNANIMOUSLY agrees Lakers will MISS Play-In Tournament | NBA Today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAGZEY6kMO4

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web search NEUTRAL — The official standings for Major League Baseball including division and league standings for regular season, wild card, and playoffs.
https://www.mlb.com/standings

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web search NEUTRAL — Caitlin Clark and the United States women’s national basketball team are undefeated in Berlin, where they are in search of a fifth consecutive FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup title. Team USA advance…
https://en.as.com/nba/when-does-caitlin-clark-play-next-how-…

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Claim 13: “However, this year only the top six teams get a week off.”

CORROBORATED

Web search results for the 2026 season explicitly state that the top six teams will receive a bye during the wildcard round.

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web search NEUTRAL — The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Football_League

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web search NEUTRAL — The final round of the 2016 season will take place on the weekend of August 26-28, a fortnight before finals.
https://www.nmfc.com.au/news/457891/afl-week-off-before-fina…

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web search NEUTRAL — The top six teams will receive a bye during the wildcard round, adding extra incentive to climb the rankings. Geelong is well-positioned to claim sixth place and a favourable semi-final matchup. Curre…
https://pinaypinoyplus.com/afl-2026-ladder/

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Claim 14: “This round involves two matches to kick off the finals series, in the first change to the league’s finals format in 25 years.”

CORROBORATED

Two independent web sources explicitly state that the wildcard round consists of matches for teams 7th-10th and represents the first change to the finals framework since 2000 (approx. 25 years).

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2023 AFL draft consisted of the various periods where the 18 clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL) could trade and recruit players during and following the completion of the 2023 AFL seaso…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_AFL_draft

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2024 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football match that was contested between the Sydney Swans and the Brisbane Lions at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday, 28 September 2024. It wa…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_AFL_Grand_Final

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+ 3 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 15: “When the AFL announced the changed finals format in November last year”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The provided Wikipedia results for the 2018, 2025, and 2026 seasons do not mention a specific announcement of the finals format change occurring in November of the previous year.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2018 AFL draft consisted of the various periods where the 18 clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL) traded and recruited players following the completion of the 2018 AFL season. For the fir…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_AFL_draft

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info

Claim 16: “It was also labelled a cash grab by Geelong coach Chris Scott.”

SINGLE SOURCE

While one evidence snippet mentions 'Scott openly questioned the rationale' in the context of a wildcard sledge, there is no independent corroboration across multiple sources that he specifically used the term 'cash grab'.

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Claim 17: “This weekend, the AFL will unveil a first: a “wildcard round”.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources, including Wikipedia (2026 AFL season) and news summaries, confirm the introduction of a wildcard finals round for the 2026 season.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The AFL introduced a wildcard finals round, adding an extra week to the existing finals series and increasing the number of finalists from eight to ten; at the end of the home-and-away season, the sev…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_AFL_season

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web search NEUTRAL — Wildcard Finals Round announced, new Saints hit the track, and a star Bomber opts against an early return. @sarahjolle brings you the Monday Footy Feed, thanks to @Telstra. pic.x.com/SiVeSvbvYo.
https://news.google.com/stories/CAAqNggKIjBDQklTSGpvSmMzUnZj…

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web search NEUTRAL — AFL CEO Andrew Dillon says the League will continue to explore the concept of a wildcard round to start the men's finals series after the idea received support from club bosses at a meeting last month…
https://www.afl.com.au/news/1190547/something-well-look-at-s…

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.