AFL Fans Association

AFL Fans Association Giving AFL fans a voice! Join for FREE @ www.aflfans.org.au Who are we? We are independent and not affiliated with the AFL or any AFL clubs. How is the AFLFA run?
(1)

The AFL Fans Association (AFLFA) was formed in December 2013 by a group of grassroots supporters who felt that as the game’s largest stakeholder, AFL fans needed a collective voice. The AFLFA aims to give fans a strong and independent voice, ensuring they are not treated as consumers, but stakeholders who should be consulted. The AFLFA is an incorporated association run by a committee that is elected each year at an AGM. The committee is supported by state representatives around Australia. All AFLFA committee members are volunteers who juggle their commitments with professional and family lives. Our current AFLFA Patron is Sue Alberti AC and our Ambassador is Brett ‘Trout’ Beattie. Who do we represent? We represent the interests of everyday fans who love the game of Australian Rules. This includes club members, AFL and MCC members, grassroots supporters who turn up every week, casual fans, and those who passionately follow the game from home. To become an AFLFA member, membership is free and is open to anyone who is a fan of the AFL. The more members we have, the stronger the AFLFA’s voice will be. What does the AFLFA do? We liaise with the AFL, clubs, stadiums, and governments and monitor their decisions. We engage with various media outlets to provide a voice for fans. We are frequently quoted in the media, social media and interviewed on radio and television. What are the views of the AFLFA? The AFLFA seeks to provide a voice for fans. When an issue becomes topical, we ask fans for feedback, to assist us to settle on a position. Ongoing key issues:

Gambling advertising

AFLFA believes that gambling advertising saturates the football landscape. The issue of oversaturation of gambling advertising in the footy world needs to be addressed. However, the predominance of gambling in football is unhealthy and something which concerns many fans. The AFLFA recognises clubs that have reduced their reliance on gambling revenue and also those in the process of doing so. The AFLFA has partnered with the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation and in particular the Love The Game Not The Odds Program. Grand Final tickets

The AFL continues to allocate thousands of seats to non-competing AFL clubs, which they funnel into expensive corporate packages and pass on to sponsors. The AFL does the same, selling Grand Final packages to those who can afford the exorbitant prices, well before the finals series even starts. Currently, the AFL allocates just 17,000 AFL Grand Final tickets to each competing club’s members. We believe it should increase that to at least 25,000 each. Fan Behaviour

The AFLFA strongly rejects behaviours that are racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist (prejudiced against people with a disability), or reflects any other prejudice based on a person’s identity. The AFLFA has joined the Australian Human Rights Commission’s – Racism. It Stops With Me Campaign. Social media

Making defamatory, insulting, or offensive comments via social media is unacceptable. The AFLFA supports efforts by the AFL and clubs to stamp out any forms of abuse and urges fans to call them out.

Swan players swimming their way to the bus after the GWS match.Full video in comments.📸 Code Sports
28/02/2026

Swan players swimming their way to the bus after the GWS match.

Full video in comments.

📸 Code Sports

26/02/2026

Hmmmm. Fake outs are now legitimate ruck craft.

AAMI community series practise match umpire appointments for fan info.📸 AFL Umpire Association
26/02/2026

AAMI community series practise match umpire appointments for fan info.

📸 AFL Umpire Association

24/02/2026

Question for fans regarding the Brownlow voting

Umpires will now have access to player stats to help then when deciding on the Brownlow voting after each game.

Do you think umpires having the stats is a positive or negative for the Brownlow and why?

Eight-time All-Australian Max Gawn fears changes to ruck rules could lead to predictable contests that favour athletes o...
24/02/2026

Eight-time All-Australian Max Gawn fears changes to ruck rules could lead to predictable contests that favour athletes over footballers.

"After watching the (pre-season) games, what's actually happened is what I didn't really want," Gawn told AAP.

"It's just literally two players jumping into each other and no real ruck craft at all."

Under new rules for 2026, rucks are forbidden from crossing the centre line before engaging with their opponents, while umpires will throw the ball up rather than bouncing it.

The changes are expected to lead to less wrestling around stoppages.

Full story in comments.

📸 E

24/02/2026

2026 SEASON PREVIEW: BRISBANE LIONS

2025: 3rd (16-6-1, Premiers)
B&F: Josh Dunkley
Rising Star: Levi Ashcroft

IN: Oscar Allen (West Coast), Daniel Annable (No. 6 draft pick, Academy), Cody Curtin (No. 43 draft pick), Sam Draper (Essendon), Koby Evans (No. 38 draft pick), Tai Hayes (No. 44 draft pick), Ben Murphy (Category B rookie)

OUT: Callum Ah Chee (Adelaide), Darcy Craven (delisted), Sam Day (retired), Oscar McInerney (retired), Deven Robertson (West Coast), Brandon Ryan (delisted), Brandon Starcevich (West Coast)

SEASON PREVIEW:

Last season I said the following in Brisbane's season preview: "There is some reason to believe the Lions might struggle to repeat in 2025. Repeating isn't easy, but it's almost impossible when your best goalkicker retires. Joe Daniher can be maligned but the truth is he's an incredible talent who kicked 46, 39 (off 19 games), 61 and 58 goals for the Lions from 2021 to 2024. This is a player who produces a lot of goals, and you can't replicate that output. Eric Hipwood is probably unlikely to emerge as the #1 key forward they need, so can Sam Day or Logan Morris do it?"

The answer to that was yes, Morris definitely can. Morris kicked 53 goals for the season and showed he could pick up where Daniher left off. It's hard for someone with such a breakout season in a flag winning team to be under the radar, but Morris should have been discussed alongside the season long Riley Thilthorpe v Sam Darcy 'who is the best young key forward' argument. He's not the physical unicorn that they both are, but his forward craft is incredible.

What else can be said? A mix of old stars such as Lachie Neale, Josh Dunkley and Dayne Zorko paired perfectly with exciting young talent like the Ashcroft brothers, Jaspa Fletcher and Morris. The result was going back to back in 2025 as they looked arguably even better than their 2024 counterparts.

The scary thing is they could get even better. Their one weakness in the ruck (weakness being a relative term) was bolstered by the addition of Sam Draper in free agency. They also added some firepower up forward with former Eagles captain Oscar Allen being added as another tall. Add in the exciting Dan Annable, who recruiters thought could have been in Brisbane's finals squad last year, and what you have is arguably the best list in the AFL.

TEAM OUTLOOK:

Defensively, the back six is anchored by arguably the best full back i the game in Harris Andrews along with 2025 All-Australian 44 man squad member Dayne Zorko. The team was 6th in terms of scoring against (as in 6th fewest, not 6th most points) and while not an elite bunch it's still more than capable of getting the job done.

Midfield of course is where the sun really shines for the Lions. Lachie Neale is one of the modern greats while Hugh McCluggage was named to the All-Australian team. Josh Dunkley was argubly a snub for the final team, while there's a midfield for the next decade or so still going with the Ashcrofts, Annable and Fletcher.

Morris will be the #1 forward for 2026, and will be backed by Allen and Eric Hipwood. Allen can be a 50 goal player if healthy, while Hipwood is good as a #2 or #3 option in the forward line. The electric Charlie Cameron, the mercurial Zac Bailey and a newly healthy Kai Lohmann will also cause havoc up forward.

DOUBLE UPS:

Premiers demand tough double ups and that's happened here. The team will have some big double ups again top four hopefuls in Geelong, Collingwood and Gold Coast.

The Lions will also double up vs. 2025 non-finals teams Sydney, Carlton and Essendon. Sydney will be a tricky challenge however.

2026 EXPECTATIONS:

We don't need to say it. but we will. Only one team (Hawthorn 2013-2015) has ever hit the threepeat since the 2001-2003 Brisbane Lions outfit, and the team will be looking to be the first team in about a quarter century to match their dominant predecessors.

It's so hard to say it'll happen given how tough it is, but can we bet against them? They greatly upgraded their one position of need and added some big time firepower up forward assuming Allen is healthy.

Losing Callum Ah Chee and Brandon Starcevich does mean a few cogs of the 2025 machine are missing, but frankly neither player were the reason why they finished in the top four and then won the flag. There's plenty of young talent there to replace them.

I'm not guaranteeing the threepeat for the Lions, but they're the best team and the team to beat until further notice.

2026 Ladder Prediction: 1st

-JW

Former Port Adelaide senior coach Ken Hinkley says AFL players should be able to announce they are moving clubs before t...
24/02/2026

Former Port Adelaide senior coach Ken Hinkley says AFL players should be able to announce they are moving clubs before the end of the season in an NRL-style model.

Now in the media with Fox Footy and SEN after his 13-seasons in charge of the Power, Hinkley has been asked about the future of Port’s star vice-captain Zak Butters on multiple occasions already given their strong relationship.

Butters’ current deal expires at the end of this year and if he stays unsigned he will become a restricted free agent.

Speaking at the Kayo Sports Adelaide AFL Lunch on Monday, Hinkley predicted Butters would wait until the end of the season to make his decision.

Crows legend Mark Ricciuto asked if players should be able to come out and announce their movement before the end of the season Hinkley said they should be able to like their NRL counterparts.

“I do... I am a big proponent for being honest,” he said.

“Payne Haas, nearly the best player in the competition who plays for the Brisbane Broncos and won the premiership (last year) he has already said he is going to South Sydney Rabbitohs to play for Wayne Bennett next year.

“He is going to play this season (for Brisbane). I think they are used to it and in AFL we aren’t used to it and I think everyone would say the opposite (to me).

“It’s only because we don’t know what that looks and feels like.”

The debate about whether the AFL should adopt a NRL-type model when it comes to player movement was ignited last year when the then West Coast captain Oscar Allen met with Hawthorn senior coach Sam Mitchell.

The former AFLPA boss Paul Marsh said the response to Allen’s meeting – he ended up moving to Brisbane in the off-season – showed that footy could not handle in-season player movement announcements.

Full story in comments (paywall - extracts above).

Former Essendon, Port Adelaide and Carlton small forward Orazio Fantasia has opened up on the extent that constant injur...
23/02/2026

Former Essendon, Port Adelaide and Carlton small forward Orazio Fantasia has opened up on the extent that constant injuries had on his time in the AFL, saying they made him a “s**t boyfriend, a s**t mate and a s**t son”.

Fantasia said his multitude of injury issues also had him wondering “am I broken?” as he saw players taken in the same draft more than double his games tally.

Taken by the Bombers in the 2013 Draft, Fantasia’s AFL career came to an end last year with the 30-year-old featuring 120 times at the highest level.

This was impacted by numerous soft tissue and knee injuries, which hampered his time at all three clubs.

“I think my way of dealing with it, and it definitely is the wrong way, but looking back on it I went very insular. Mates would be calling and I wouldn’t just respond, parents would be calling and I wouldn’t respond.

“And it’s not because I didn’t care or love those people it was because I just knew it would be the same conversation … and I couldn’t just muster up the courage to deal with those conversations over and over again.

Fantasia said seeing players the same age as him pass 200 game milestones did make him question his body.

“Every day I am going through this cycle where it is the same thing, and I am doing everything possible to get back,” he said.

“I am tracking sleep and just nothing is working, like am I broken?

“And then you question yourself like why can’t I do this, everyone else seems to be able knock game after game.

“Guys I got drafted with, when I was at Carlton ‘Crippa’ (Patrick Cripps) is playing his 200th, 230th, 240th, Zach Merrett 250 like these guys I got drafted with and I am just ticking over a 100.

“Why couldn’t I play that many? I wish I could have but it’s my journey at the end of the day.”

Full story in comments (paywall - extracts above).

22/02/2026

2026 SEASON PREVIEW: ADELAIDE CROWS

2025: 1st (18-5. lost semi final)
B&F: Jordan Dawson
Rising Star: Dan Curtin

IN: Callum Ah Chee (Brisbane), Indy Cotton (Category B rookie), Archie Ludowyke (No.50 draft pick), Finnbar Maley ( North Melbourne), Mitchell Marsh (No.22 draft pick)

OUT: Chris Burgess (delisted), Matt Crouch (retired), Karl Gallagher (delisted), Lachlan Murphy (delisted), Harry Schoenberg (West Coast), Brodie Smith (retired), Kieran Strachan (delisted)

SEASON PREVIEW:

Adelaide can paint 2025 as two differing stories. The first part was a majestic rise to the minor premiership as the team took the league by storm off the back of some big leaps by players such as key forward and All-Australian Riley Thilthorpe, All-Australian snub Josh Worrall and one of the best young talents in the country in Dan Curtin. The clubs drafting and all out recruiting of some key pieces proved to be masterstrokes as the team took the big leap.

The problem then came finals. The one weakness in the team is its midfield as it is heavily Jordan Dawson dependent. This, alongside the suspension of livewire Izak Rankine, saw the team bundled out in straight sets as they couldn't match those heights.

The team didn't do much to upgrade the midfield this offseason. They did pursue Christian Petracca but were unwilling to go all-in to get him by balking (rightly or wrongly, we will tell in time), at giving him a contract extension. The team wasn't in the running for other midfielders that either went on the move or were rumoured to either.

The team didn't do so in the draft either as they instead bolstered their forward stocks. Mitch Marsh was the obvious pick with how the draft fared, as he is much in the Taylor Walker mold and will be a like for like replacement when the club legend retires. Archie Ludowyke wasn't a need either but there's no denying that he was one of the bigger steals for the entire period even if he's unlikely to produce right away.

TEAM OUTLOOK:

Defensively, the back six is one of the best in the entire league and was only eight points from being the #1 scoring defense in the entire AFL. Mark Keane and Josh Worrell were All-Australian 44 man squad selections, and the former was arguably the biggest snub to not make the team as it is. They form the nucleus alongside the exciting Max Michalanney. Jordan Butts and Nick Murray will compete for the third tall defender role, while Mitch Hinge and Wayne Milera rebound off halfback.

As mentioned, the midfield is the big weak link here with Jordan Dawson the lone fulltime star. Izak Rankine and Josh Rachele do spend time in there as classy smalls but they're needed more up the ground as goalsneaks. Dan Curtin was meant to move in the role, but unfortunately a knee injury will see him outlined for at least the first six weeks of the season. Maybe Josh Soligo and first round pick Sid Draper can make the big leap.

When it comes to the forward line, the team has class in spades. Taylor Walker is in the twilight of his career but he still has big games left in him, while the duo of Riley Thilthorpe and Darcy Fogarty were an unstoppable tandem for a lot of 2025. The aforementioned Rachele and Rankine serves as the classy smalls as well, while Ben Keays and Alex Neal-Bullen serve as arguably the best half forwards in the league with their work generating scoring opportunities.

DOUBLE UPS:

As expected, Adelaide has some tough double ups as a top side from 2025. The team will double up against some tough sides in Geelong, Collingwood and Fremantle.

The team does double up vs non-finalists Western Bulldogs, Port Adelaide and Richmond but that may be harder than it looks. The Bulldogs still possess big talent, Showdowns are always tough and Richmond could be a pick for some to be big improvers in 2026.

2026 EXPECTATIONS:

Deeper in the finals is on every fan's wishlist. But beyond that it's hard to say.

The team rose to the occasion in 2025 with their attractive play, but the big holes in the team weren't addressed in the offseason and their planned big move of Dan Curtin into the midfield is on ice for now until he recovers.

The question is can the team get the improvement they need? Can Jake Soligo and Sid Draper take the leap to star status? The team on both ends of the field are very good, it's just the engine room that concerns.

I think regression is reasonable to expect in 2026. The double ups will be tougher in 2026 as a team that finished atop the league and the team did get exposed for their midfield weakness.

This is still a very good team. The issue is some other teams have made some big improvements to their list, but the club stood pat and used their draft picks on good talents but not players who are expected to contribute right away. I think a bit of regression is expected, but they're still firmly a strong finals outfit.

2026 Ladder Prediction: 6th

-JW

Resurfacing at GMBHA stadium/Kardinia Park is finished for season 2026.Full post and timelapse video in comments.
20/02/2026

Resurfacing at GMBHA stadium/Kardinia Park is finished for season 2026.

Full post and timelapse video in comments.

Address

Melbourne Place
Melbourne, VIC
3000

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when AFL Fans Association posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn
Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share via Email
Share on WhatsApp Share on Instagram Share on Telegram