The AFL is dropping its Opening Round experiment. The decision follows on from heavy criticism over the contentious round. The league is going back to a standard season structure. The special early-season round has now been dropped.

Eddie McGuire has put forward a proposal to change the AFL finals format. He said the proposal might enlarge the finals series. McGuire made his pitch after the league decided to drop the special early-season round. His finals proposal follows on from the recent decision to abandon Opening Round.