Sorry there are arguments for having 16 games I guess, but I can’t see any which would be more important than having a fair season where we play each other once each.
Cheers for the question @anthak The boards view is that like in 2024 when we played 17 rounds that in 2025 we would play as many rounds as we could that only have 2 teams on the bye. Originally that was 15 (plus 4 finals) and as of the Brisbane vs Geelong game being rescheduled it is now 16, noting that if we also played through the 4 team byes this season (with topups) we would have either 19 or 20 games plus finals. I understand the fairness point of view but the reality as I see it is some teams cop harder/easier draws even with a “pure” round robin by virtue of random luck and this is a much bigger factor than an extra game in the scheme of things. Further Round 16 has in general seen matchups between teams around the same level in 2024 including the top 6 for the home and away season playing amongst each other and the bottom 2 from 2024 also facing off twice.
I know I have asked the same question both years, so thank you for your patience with me. I dont see a need for extra games outweighing playing each other the same amount of games each, but im happy to roll with it.