The journey · Chapter 2
The first preview
The first complete modelled 2027 fixture arrived on 13 September 2026, with 207 games, dates and TV bands. Eight rules were checked and met; forty-six were not yet checkable. Geelong’s unusual home-ground pattern was fixed the next day.
The first preview
The first complete modelled 2027 fixture arrived on 13 September 2026. It had 207 games with rounds, dates and TV bands, starting Thursday 18 March 2027.
The release called it a research preview. It was unofficial and not accepted as complete.
Only eight rules could be checked independently. Forty-six were switched off because their checkers did not exist yet. Four concerned finals or Opening Round, which the model excludes.
A broken rule and a rule nobody could check are different results. The site keeps them separate.
What the first preview already got right
The checks that ran passed. Reports covered TV slots, return games, major occasions and known ground bookings, within their stated scopes. The players’ rest rules were among the first checks and held in every version from this one onwards.
What it got visibly wrong
Geelong had ten listed home games at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and none at Kardinia Park. The release named this unusual ground allocation. A missing rule caused it; the next day’s correction added that rule.
Ground availability was unknown for all 207 games. The model avoided known bookings, but had no confirmation that any ground was free on a match date. Every later release has the same limitation.
The next morning
On 14 September, two fixtures were built and checked using different random starting points, called seeds. All five steps proved the best answer within their rules.
Both fixtures began on 18 March. Their return games were at least twelve rounds apart, twice the required six. Neither put more than four games on a Saturday.
Their rounds, dates and slots were identical. They differed in the home club for sixteen games and in 56 ground choices. Most of the available choice was in Step 4.
Later that day, another release added independent checks for return-game spacing. “At least six rounds apart, none before Round 13” became recorded rule results. Match details stayed unchanged. The checked count rose from nine rules to eleven.
Each release records a small, verified step. Earlier versions remain available.