The AFL grand final could be pushed back to the second week of October?

Sold.

Is it time to push the AFL season back, with the grand final held in mid-October?Credit: Eddie Jim

No need to go on, you got me at October. Or more to the point, you got me at starting the season later.

This is the best jump-off point for this idea of moving the season, the one that should give the concept traction before the first chilli dog is eaten, or NFL helmet pulled on.

And it has nothing to do with whiny F1 engines either.

It’s this: it’s hotter in early March than early October. Football is a winter sport; let’s try to keep it from starting in late summer.

And, well, climate change. The way the seasons are shifting, the whole competition might have to move to Tassie soon.

So why is the AFL, according to former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire – who is on the board of Visit Victoria, and also sits on the MCG Trust – talking earnestly at high levels about moving the season to start and finish later?

Next year the NFL will play a regular-season match between the LA Rams and another team yet to be decided, at the MCG.

Here is the nub of why this whole idea is getting any serious consideration: the AFL does not want a finals clash with the NFL.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan with LA Rams mascot Rampage announcing NFL........

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