A new wildcard round is part of next year’s Victorian Football League season.
The AFL confirmed the dates for next season with the season to get underway on the weekend of March 25 and 26 with a 22 round season.
Each team will play 18 matches and have four byes with 21 teams to again including Werribee.
The grand final is scheduled to be played on September 24.
The AFL can confirm the 2023 Smithy’s VFL season will again feature 21 teams from Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.
A new feature in the fixture is a wildcard round.
The round will be played across the weekend of August 26-27, following the final round of the home and away season.
It will feature two matches, with the team that finished seventh playing the team that finishes 10th, while eighth will play ninth.
The two winners will advance to the finals, with the highest-ranked winner during the wildcard round to enter the finals as the seventh-placed team.
AFL head of state league competitions Jennie Loughnan said the introduction of the wildcard round will provide an exciting new element to the VFL season.
“With 21 teams competing in the Smithy’s VFL, the addition of the wildcard round provides more teams the opportunity to contend for finals,” she said.
“We expect the wildcard round to create more anticipation and excitement for competing clubs and football fans throughout the home and away season, with more sides remaining in finals contention later into the regular season.
“We are extremely proud of the rich tradition and history of the VFL and its clubs, and are also open to exploring exciting new opportunities, such as the wildcard round, for clubs, players and fans involved within the competition.”
The fixture for the VFL season will be locked in and published as soon as finalised.
An update on the 2023 VFLW season dates will be provided shortly.
Meanwhile, Williamstown has announced the signing of Mitch Cox for next year’s VFL season.
Cox trained with the Seagulls in last year’s pre-season but was lucky enough to be added to the Brisbane Lions AFL list as a rookie during the Supplemental selection period.
The club said that Cox is a great addition for the ‘Gulls with a great amount of experience and the insight of an AFL club’s systems.
“A classy athlete that will bring so much to Williamstown’s fastly growing list,” the club said in its announcement.
Tara Murray
