Overview
- The AFL showed club chief executives four distinct competition models at a Gold Coast summit on Monday, June 22, 2026, with no final choice announced.
- Options range from modest change — a 22‑game season or a 24‑game season — to two radical alternatives that cut the home-and-away season to 20 games and add either a post‑20‑match group stage or a carved‑out three‑week mid‑season tournament.
- The group‑stage plan would keep a 20‑game baseline then split the top 16 into four groups of four to play a three‑week block that helps seed finals while the bottom three would play a separate mini‑group for draft positioning.
- The mid‑season tournament model would pause the regular year for a three‑week competition of four groups of five clubs and could feature a 20th ‘State League Stars’ team; the AFL also said it might shorten game length if a 24‑game calendar is adopted.
- Immediate reactions were mixed: former player Nick Riewoldt called the in‑season tournament 'garbage', coaches such as Sam Mitchell backed the 20‑game single‑meeting fairness idea and warned shorter seasons could cut revenue and pay, and clubs will continue discussing operational and commercial impacts before a decision.