Footy fans are relishing the return of the AFL, the 121st season of this very elite competition. The AFL is the most highly attended spectator sport in Australia, and one of the top five best attended league’s world-wide, with an average of well over thirty-thousand people in the stadiums for each game.Entering the 2017 AFL Premiership Western are the defending champions and looking to make it two in a row, but a number of teams have shown they have a good chance to dethrone the Bulldogs and you can enjoy the action using a standard or HD TV, as well as live streaming options with a Free Trial.
2017 Toyota AFL Premiership season
When: March 23 – September 30
Where: Australia
Must See AFL Live TV
There will be a great number of fascinating contests during the 2017 Toyota AFL Premiership, including local derbies that see the clubs take on their cross-town rivals in heated matches. The remainder of the season is shaping up to be an exciting stretch, with a Sydney Derby taking place on 15 July, followed immediately by the 46th Western Derby arriving on Sunday, 16 July. Not to be outdone, August 12, a Saturday, will see the fourteenth edition of the QClash, while August 18 (Friday) will entertain Showdown 43.
The home and away season ends with an absolutely ripping battle between the West Coast Eagles and Adelaide Crows. This is a must win for Adelaide in order to maintain a home final in week one of the finals after their loss to the Swans on Friday night. The Eagles are also in a must win position themselves to maintain a spot in the eight. They generally are very good at home, near unbeatable, but their overall 2017 form has been patchy and it really is a 50/50 guess as to who will win.
Among the matches that will be broadcast in this round on Foxtel with no ad-breaks during play on Fox Footy, which is their dedicated AFL channel, but either not available or limited by location on Free to Air TV (ch. 7) include:
2017 AFL Live TV Times
Fri 25 Aug: Hawks v Bulldogs 7.30pm (Ch 7/Fox)
Sat 26 Aug: Collingwood v Melbourne 1:30pm (Fox)
Sat 26 Aug: Brisbane v N. Melbourne 2:00pm (Fox)
Sat 26 Aug: Sydney Swans v Carlton 4:30pm (Fox)
Sat 26 Aug: Geelong Cats vs Giants 7:00pm (Ch 7/Fox)
Sat 26 Aug: Port Adelaide v GC Suns 7:30pm (Fox)
Sun 27 Aug: Essendon v Fremantle 1:00pm (Fox)
Sun 27 Aug: Richmond v St. Kilda 3:00pm (Ch 7/Fox)
Sun 27 Aug: WC Eagles v Adelaide 4:30pm (Fox)
Above events shown as Sydney time and televised on Fox Footy, adjust for regional differences. The AFL TV replays will be available exclusively on Fox Footy through-out the following week.
Live AFL Streaming and a Free Trial
If you are looking for AFL action then Foxtel is the place for you, with every game of every round of the 2017 season shown live and in HD, with no ad-breaks siren to siren through Fox Footy (excluding the grand final). This includes a good number of great matches not available on Free to Air, and replays of the games you may have missed.
So if you’re a resident of Australia you may wish to review the Foxtel Now 2-weeks Free Streaming TV offer, which is available to EVERYONE and will broadcast these exciting Footy matches online (Mac & PC excluded)*, as well as offering Live AFL streaming (grand final excluded) to eligible mobile devices through the Foxtel Go app.
AFL on Free to Air
Starting in 2017, the twenty-three rounds of the AFL Premiership will be for the most part held three days a week, Friday to Sunday. The AFL Free to Air coverage on Seven Network will include live telecasts of the Friday night game, up to two matches on Saturday, one contest on Sunday afternoon, and any games that fall on a public holiday or a Monday. Channel 7 will also broadcast the entire Final series live, including the Grand Final.
Channel Seven vs Foxtel
While the Channel Seven television coverage is limited, Foxtel will televise every game in every Round Live, before the Grand Final, with up to five exclusive matches each week to include the games on Saturday and Sunday night.
Friday Night: Ch. 7 and Foxtel
Saturday Afternoon Game 1: Ch. 7 and Foxtel
Saturday Afternoon Game 2: Foxtel
Saturday Evening: Foxtel
Saturday Night Game 1: Ch. 7 and Foxtel
Saturday Night Game 2: Foxtel
Sunday Afternoon Game 1: Foxtel
Sunday Afternoon Game 2: Ch. 7 and Foxtel
Sunday Evening: Foxtel
Monday & Public Holidays: Ch. 7 and Foxtel
The above listing offers a guide for what games are shown on each channel, Australia-wide, and does not reflect Channel Seven’s free to air state-to-state variations which may also include:
New South Wales (NSW) – Sydney: All GWS Giants and Sydney Swans matches will be televised by the Seven Network, primarily on their 7Mate and 7HD channels.
Queensland (QLD) – Brisbane: All Gold Coast Suns and Brisbane Lions matches will be televised by the Seven Network, primarily on their 7Mate and 7HD channels.
South Australia (SA) – Adelaide: All Port Adelaide Power and Adelaide Crows matches will be televised by the Seven Network across Channel 7, as well as 7Mate and 7HD.
Western Australia (WA) – Perth: All Fremantle Dockers and West Coast Eagles matches will be televised by the Seven Network, live, alternating between Channel 7 and 7Mate.
ACT – Canberra: All GWS Giants and Sydney Swans matches will be televised by the Seven Network, primarily on their 7Mate and 7HD channels.
Victoria – Melbourne: No special Free to Air broadcasting arrangements apply.
Northern Territories (NT) – Darwin: No special Free to Air broadcasting arrangements apply.
Tasmania – Hobart: No special Free to Air broadcasting arrangements apply.
AFL Players to Watch
All eyes will be on star midfielder for the Gold Coast Suns, Gary Ablett Jr, who has really struggled to find his brilliant best since a serious shoulder and knee injuries. He played most of 2016, but seemingly underdone and lacking that polish that we know he has got. The Suns have recruited well during the off season and if Ablett can fire like we know he can, the Suns will go close to making the top eight, and best of all you can watch the AFL online with an eligible device.
The man that won the Brownlow Medal in 2015 Nat Fyfe. The Dockers star produced some unbelievable numbers in the first half of that season, but injury really restricted him and the Dockers towards premiership glory, but he showed great courage in the Prelim Final given he played most of the game with a broken leg. Broke the same leg in the opening minutes of the 2016 season and was kept on ice for the year. Looks fit and firing in the pre season and was announced as captain of Fremantle.
The man that took the Brownlow off Fyfe last year was Geelong Cats phenom Patrick Dangerfield. He was first class in the second half of 2015 for his former club, Adelaide, and wasn’t far off winning the Brownlow then, but the move to Geelong worked wonders for Danger as he starred for the Cats and pretty much wrapped up the Brownlow in the opening half of the year. He moved to Geelong for premiership success, and it will be very interesting to see how they perform in 2017.
AFL Teams to Watch
It is a general consensus that supporters have their team to cheer on, but their second team is the Sydney Swans. Injuries hurt them bad towards the end of 2015, which saw them bow out of the finals in straight sets. The same thing happened towards the end of 2016, but they made the Grand Final before losing to the Doggies. The Swans are set to go close in 2017 all things being equal, and you can stream the AFL live with a compatible device.
The Western Bulldogs are the reigning premiers and are now the hunted, not the hunter, but that is something that they should lap up given their nature of being ferocious and loving a contest, as we saw throughout the Finals Series last year, especially in the Grand Final when too good for the Swans. You need to be a great team to defend a premiership successfully. Are they a great team? Time will tell.
Most people wouldn’t begrudge the Fremantle Dockers of their maiden premiership. They have been so close in recent years, but last year was a real flop for coach Ross Lyon and the club as they dropped from first to 16th, the biggest slide in regular season history of the VFL/AFL. They have recruited really well in the off season and are healthy. They look set for a sharp bounce back.
The side tipped to strongly challenge for the premiership is the Greater Western Sydney Giants. GWS were one of the more outstanding sides of the 2016 season, and came so close to making the Grand Final, but lost narrowly to the Dogs in the Prelim Final. They are a young side with great promise and are expected by many to go a couple of steps further and claim the flag, with their 2017 Anzac Day match against the Sydney Swans one of the bigger tests.
Cant find when afl match crows verses carlton is replayed.
Looks like it gets a replay at 7.30am this Wednesday morning on Fox Footy. Set that iQ! 😉
Once again another Melbourne is NOT on FREE to AIR TV!!!
What another disgrace!!1
I live in Perth!!
When will the AFL admit that Fox Footy is destroying the AFL!!??