Melbourne legend Garry Lyon says it’s time for the AFL to move the grand final to a twilight time slot as a decision looms over the next couple of months.
The Age reported that the league will review the grand final time slot — and the potential to move it from a day game to twilight or night — early in 2026, under new Commissioner chairman Craig Drummond with help from AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon.
The report notes that a call will be made soon and won’t drag too late into the season.
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So will the 2026 decider be shifted into the evening?
Speaking on Fox Footy’s AFL 360 on Wednesday night, Dillon confirmed a decision would be reached at the next Commission meeting in late April or early May.
“Any discussions about that will be decisions of the Commission. We’ll run all of those decisions through the filter of our three focuses for this year — what’s best for the footy, our fans and future,” Dillon said on the program.
“I imagine that will be a decision on the Commissioner’s agenda pretty shortly.
“Our next Commission meeting is in sort of late April, early May. I imagine there will be a decision made at that meeting.”
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Former Geelong president Drummond on Wednesday was officially announced Richard Goydner’s successor as the new Commissioner chair.
And Lyon thinks Drumond should “make a brave choice” to kick off his tenure and move the grand final.
“I’ve been a bit ambivalent about it all. But I think Craig Drummond has the opportunity to go in and make a bit of a statement,” Lyon said on AFL 360.
“I was always a bit of a traditionalist, but I don’t think we lose too much about going to a twilight grand final, I think there’s a sense of inevitability about it.
“Let’s start fresh with a new Commisoner, make a brave choice. Cop a couple early, wear a couple early, then move on.”
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AFL 360 co-host Gerard Whateley suspects changing the showpiece game’s time slot won’t go down well with footy fans, but he thinks it’s the right call long term.
“It’ll be a loss the day it’s announced, it’ll be a win when the impact of it is fully measured,” Whateley said.
Dillon also confirmed on AFL 360 that changes to the draft bidding system, which is set to make clubs pay a higher price for Academy and father-son linked players, are set to be introduced.
“Competitive balance is the bedrock of the success of the AFL … it’s super important,” he began.
“I think what we have seen over the last couple of years is clubs have become more sophisticated. They’ve worked their way through the draft bidding system.
“So what we want to make sure is, when that priority access is given … that a fair price is paid under the system we have.
“We had a good meeting with the Commission earlier today. We’ve got a few more tweaks to make, but we’ll be making an announcement on that in the next couple of weeks.
“We want all our fans to have hope.”
Meanwhile, the AFL chief said games in Queensland would go ahead this weekend despite weather concerns a year after the Opening Round fixtures in the state were abandoned due to the effects of Cyclone Alfred.
“I was a bit more nervous this time last year,” Dillon said.
“It’s going to rain a bit up in Queensland, but we’re not dealing with the aftermaths of a cyclone.
“So the games will go ahead and I think we’ll see some really good footy.”
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