AFL CEO Andrew Dillon has not ruled out the possibility of a wildcard round being introduced in the next few years, as the 2025 finals series gets set to kick off tomorrow night.
The idea of a wildcard round has gained significant steam in recent years, as a way to keep more fans engaged for longer during the season.
The most common form of a proposed wildcard round sees the final eight expanded to a final 10, where on the eve of a conventional finals series, seventh plays 10th and eighth plays ninth to decide the last two finals spots, similar to how the VFL currently operates.
In an appearance on the Eddie and Jimmy podcast, Dillon conceded that the higher-ups at the AFL may consider implementing the round in the near future.
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"One of the things that we will look at as the competition goes from 18 to 19 teams, is 'is a final eight the right amount of teams to be making it into the finals series?'" Dillon posed to Eddie McGuire and Jimmy Bartel on Wednesday.
"Would you look at opening it up to a nine or a 10? That's certainly on our agenda at the moment.
"It's absolutely on the horizon with Tasmania coming in [to the competition] in 2028.
"I think having seen how the season went this year, knowing how much the fans care about games of consequence, I think it's something that it's up to us to certainly have a look at. And then making sure that we can work it within the current confines of our fixture."
The VFL first introduced a wildcard round into their season in 2023, fixturing it in the week break between the home-and-away season ending and the finals starting.
They have continued with the system until today, where the 10th-placed Williamstown made full use of their season staying alive, defeating seventh-placed Collingwood to book their spot in finals, and ending the Pies' year.