7 March 2000 AFL clubs have mostly welcomed the league's plan to split the competition into two divisions from next season. Under the league's plan, revealed exclusively by The Age yesterday, the 16 teams would be split into two groups. Each would play the remaining seven teams in their group twice, and the eight teams in the other group once, making up the 22 games. AFL chief executive Mr Wayne Jackson confirmed yesterday that the model was being considered.
Most clubs believe the current system is full of anomalies.
But as to the specific detail of it, there's certainly some suggestions there that are heading in the right direction, but there needs to be a fair bit of discussion where we sit down and go through it. Collingwood wants a different system under which the 16 teams would simply play each other twice, making a 30-game season. We're one of the very few sports that trains for five months to play for five months, but at 30 weeks, you'd have to increase your lists. The Age Company Ltd 2000. Any unauthorised use, copying or mirroring is prohibited.