Rules, added

Independent checks grew from eight rules to seventy-eight in seventeen days. Most rules already shaped the fixture. The change was a separate checker for each, testing the finished games without trusting the program that built them.

Until a checker could test a rule, the release labelled it switched off. That was a checking gap, not a failed rule.

14 September: return games

Checkers first confirmed the return-game rules: at least six rounds between meetings, with none before Round 13. The fixtures already met them. Their shortest gap was twelve rounds.

14 September, later: the rules release

New rules changed the fixture:

Darwin games at Marrara Oval became night-only. Earlier fixtures had one or two day or twilight games there.
A pair’s only meeting could no longer be in the final round. Earlier fixtures had two such games.
Victorian home-ground limits took effect. Richmond, Melbourne and Collingwood mostly used the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG); St Kilda, Western Bulldogs and North Melbourne mostly used Docklands. Earlier fixtures gave Richmond three Docklands home games and the Bulldogs four at the MCG.
Each release added a separate structure report with 23 checks. It covered clubs, games, byes, Gather Round, travel minimums, ground minimums, derbies and basic consistency.

The weighted rule was built but deliberately left unenforced. Together with Victorian ground limits, it left Step 4 with no fixture satisfying every rule. The release stated the conflict on both calendars.

15 September: the season’s shape

Six season rules gained recorded results: eighteen clubs; everyone plays everyone; six double-ups each; 23 games each; 24 rounds; one bye in the bye window.

Nineteen rules were now checked.

18 September: the big step

The checked count rose to fifty-four. TV checks covered free-to-air minimums, live games, pay-TV coverage, early Thursdays, big occasions, Saturday windows and state coverage. Other new checks covered byes, Gather Round, ground minimums, sold-game deals, travel minimums and opponents.

Two rules stayed switched off. The AFL had not published 2027 delayed-game quotas, and no ground had confirmed a free date. Neither gap counted as a pass.

The weighted rule returned as a preference at two strengths. Both produced fixtures that met the rules with Victorian ground limits in force.

19 September: Victoria and home grounds

Three further checks brought the count to fifty-seven:

Every club plays at least five games at Victorian grounds.
Same-state clubs never have overlapping slots, allowing each local game to be shown live.
Clubs meet ordinary home-game minimums at their main grounds. MCG minimums are nine for Richmond, eight for Collingwood and Melbourne, and five for Hawthorn. Docklands minimums are nine for St Kilda and Western Bulldogs, and eight for North Melbourne.

30 September: realism

The current release added prime-time limits and weekday ranges, plus rules reflecting recent AFL fixtures:

No club goes more than three rounds without a listed home game.
Big Victorian match-ups use the MCG, with stated exceptions for Gather Round, Geelong at Kardinia Park and one Hawthorn game in Tasmania. They cannot share a date, with stated exceptions.
Two-club states have limits on rounds without games, based on recent AFL seasons. Western Australia has a labelled exception allowing seven in this release.
Gold Coast’s Darwin games are consecutive, with a Queensland game immediately before or after.
Melbourne’s Alice Springs game is during daylight between late May and mid-July, against a club outside the big Victorian group.
Perth clubs never travel in consecutive rounds. No other club travels interstate three rounds running.
King’s Birthday Eve and the Port Adelaide and Fremantle Anzac tribute games are fixed.
Unlit grounds host day games. Daily ground limits have exceptions for Gather Round and, at most twice a season, Docklands.
Last season’s Grand Final pair meet twice.

Two unknowns also gained checks with labelled assumptions. Broadcast windows and live-return rounds are enforced; delayed-game counts are reported beside 2025 figures without enforcing those quotas. The model avoids known ground bookings, while availability remains unconfirmed.

Seventy-eight rules are checked, none switched off, and four do not apply.

What “checked” means

A checker ran and recorded a result. Read that result to see whether the rule was met or not met.

A check does not make a modelled assumption an AFL rule. Rule pages identify assumptions drawn from recent seasons. Every version stays incomplete while any rule lacks sourced facts for 2027.