Rules · Venues · Must-follow · the model’s own rule

Big Victorian games on separate days

internal:date.DATE-BIG-CLUB-SAME-DATECatalogue name: Big Victorian games on separate dates

What it means

Two big Victorian match-ups cannot share a date. The clubs are Collingwood, Carlton, Essendon, Richmond, Geelong, Hawthorn and Melbourne. Exceptions are Gather RoundThe round in which every game is played in one host city. Every club appears once.Read more in the glossary games and Geelong home games at Kardinia Park against those clubs, except Collingwood.

Why it exists

Those games must be at the MCGMelbourne Cricket Ground.Read more in the glossary, and the MCG hosts one game a day. The date stageOne of five steps that build the fixture: opponents, rounds, dates, home ground and venue, TV slot.Read more in the glossary applies that consequence before grounds are chosen.

For example

Collingwood v Carlton and Essendon v Richmond cannot both be on the same Saturday, because both need the MCG.

How strictly it applies

Must-follow The fixture must obey this rule. A separate checker tests the finished fixture afterwards.

Must-follow. 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 that every 2023 to 2026 season satisfies. The date stage is slightly stricter than needed (it does not know which Hawthorn game will go to Tasmania); the checker allows that exception.

Where to see it

Who plays where 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.

13 Sep13 Sep 2026Preview 13 September2027 · Generated
This version has no recorded result for this rule.
13 Sep13 Sep 2026Preview 14 September (seed 42)2027 · Generated
This version has no recorded result for this rule.
14 Sep14 Sep 2026Repeat-qualified (seed 42)2027 · Generated
This version has no recorded result for this rule.
14 Sep14 Sep 2026Corrected (seed 43)2027 · Generated
This version has no recorded result for this rule.
14 Sep14 Sep 2026Rules release (seed 43)2027 · Generated
This version has no recorded result for this rule.
15 Sep15 Sep 2026B009 nominal (seed 43)2027 · Generated
This version has no recorded result for this rule.
18 Sep18 Sep 2026B010 nominal (weight 0.10)2027 · Generated
This version has no recorded result for this rule.
19 Sep19 Sep 2026B011 nominal2027 · Generated
This version has no recorded result for this rule.
30 Sep30 Sep 2026B012 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 Realism rules added, 30 Sep 2026.

For analysts: catalogue text and codes

Rule id: internal:date.DATE-BIG-CLUB-SAME-DATE
Catalogue text: Two big Victorian match-ups cannot share a date. The clubs are Collingwood, Carlton, Essendon, Richmond, Geelong, Hawthorn and Melbourne. Exceptions are Gather Round games and Geelong home games at Kardinia Park against those clubs, except Collingwood.
Catalogue type: modelled rule (not a catalogue row)
Catalogue family: internal
Class: hard · The fixture must never break it.
Step: S2_5 · Step 3: dates
Recorded status: met · source row evaluated
Catalogue reason: Those matches must be at the MCG, and the MCG hosts one match a day; the date stage applies the consequence before venues are chosen.