A RADICAL fixture overhaul remains on the AFL's agenda after it was revealed a working party met in late January to discuss the logistics of moving to a 17-5 fixture model in 2018.
The 17-5 model would see all 18 teams play each other once in the first 17 rounds before the League is broken into three groups of six for five weeks of playoff rounds.
The top six teams would play for top-four spots, the middle six teams play for seventh and eighth spot, and the bottom six would play to determine the draft order.
It's come under consideration as the AFL examines ways to keep the season alive for all teams for as long as possible.
Research has shown that attendances and ratings drop off when games involve two teams who no longer have a chance of making the finals.
"It is an incredibly important piece of work that is being done," AFL chief executive Gill McLachlan said.
"[It] doesn't guarantee that we will get there but the [working party is] looking at how they deal with the issues that are being raised."
Commercial agreements with venues, sponsors and broadcasters as well as the resultant changes that might be necessary for membership packages also present significant stumbling blocks for the AFL.
Clubs were also worried that teams qualifying for seventh and eighth spot after playoffs may be fresher than the top six teams who played each other in the five weeks before finals, while a proper reward for the bottom six was uncertain.
Such concerns led to club chief executives rejecting a proposal to change the fixture in May 2015.
However the clubs supported the AFL continuing to work on how such a shift might operate as well as examining other potential initiatives such as a wildcard weekend.
AFL executive Travis Auld is leading the working party of club representatives.
If a dramatic change were to be introduced for next season, a resolution would be needed by mid-year with McLachlan conceding such a timeframe was tight.
"2018 would be pushing it," McLachlan said.
"It is a process that theoretically has an eye to 2018."
