Rules · Season shape · Must-follow
Twenty-four rounds in the season
FS-05Catalogue name: Twenty-four rounds
What it means
The season has 24 rounds and no Opening RoundA short extra round before Round 1, played by some clubs only. The 2027 model has none.Read more in the glossary. (The catalogue allows between 23 and 25.)
Why it exists
The round count decides how many byeA round in which a club does not play.Read more in the glossary are needed and how long the season runs.
For example
The 2027 model runs from mid-March to 29 August over 24 rounds.
How strictly it applies
Must-follow The fixture must obey this rule. A separate checker tests the finished fixture afterwards.
Must-follow. The 24-round shape without an Opening Round is a modelled assumptionA value we chose because the AFL has not published the 2027 fact, or because a convention is only visible in past fixtures.Read more in the glossary for 2027, because the AFLAustralian Football League.Read more in the glossary has not announced the season's shape.
Where to see it
How the fixture is made shows how this plays out across the season.
How it played out across versions
One cell per release, oldest first. Each shows the verdict that release recorded for this rule; a release with no row for the rule says so.
- Preview 13 September2027 · Generated
Off, switched off by these settings
no checker yet
- Preview 14 September (seed 42)2027 · Generated
Off, switched off by these settings
no checker yet
- Repeat-qualified (seed 42)2027 · Generated
Off, switched off by these settings
no checker yet
- Corrected (seed 43)2027 · Generated
Off, switched off by these settings
no checker yet
- Rules release (seed 43)2027 · Generated
Off, switched off by these settings
no checker yet
- B009 nominal (seed 43)2027 · Generated
Met, met
- B010 nominal (weight 0.10)2027 · Generated
Met, met
- B011 nominal2027 · Generated
Met, met
- B012 Wednesday opening2027 · Generated
Met, met
- 20252025 season as played2025 · As played
Off, switched off by these settings
rule source not recorded
First checked independently in Two start dates compared, 15 Sep 2026.
Related
For analysts: catalogue text and codes
- Rule id
FS-05- Catalogue text
- Fixture has 23–25 rounds including Opening Round and byes.
- Catalogue type
- Hard / season-configured
- Catalogue family
- Fixture Structure
- Class
hard· The fixture must never break it.- Step
S2· Step 2: rounds- Recorded status
met· source rowevaluated- Catalogue reason
- The round count fixes how many byes are needed and how much calendar the season occupies.