The AFL is pushing ahead with plans for a radical overhaul of the season fixture, with a change possible as early as next year. The league is looking at variations of a 17-5 model that would see teams play each other once then split into three groups based on ladder position for the last five rounds.

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Travis Auld, who is the league executive heading up the fixture working party, said the investigation is still in its infancy but added a change in 2018 is not out of the question.

“We’re into that process but it will take some time ... it’s incredibly complicated,” Auld said. “There are a lot of impacts of changing our fixture. But we want to give it some real consideration. Perhaps it ends up where it is or perhaps we change it, but it’s too early to tell.

“[But Gillon McLachlan] likes to push things – we’ve seen that with the women’s competition – it’s never too late. So we’re going pretty hard at the moment to see if we can make some changes or what changes could be made in 2018.”

The 17-5 model has the benefit of maintaining interest in the season for longer as the six teams in the mid-ladder group fight for two finals berths (seventh and eighth) that might not have been in play for as many teams at that point in the season under the current system.

The number of home games for each club, which would vary under the 17-5 model, is a key stumbling block.

“At the moment clubs are guaranteed 11 home games and that’s quite important for them,” Auld said. “If we were going to change that we’d have to do it over a period of time.

“There would need to be a lot of work put in place to unwind some of those agreements and make sure everyone is comfortable. It’s not insurmountable but it’s certainly one of the considerations.”