Why All-Australian Docker sees Opening Round as an 'unfair' advantage

Do sides competing in Opening Round take an unfair advantage into Round 1?

That is the view of Fremantle’s Jordan Clark, who heads into his season opener against his old club Geelong who are warm off the back of an Opening Round contest.

The numbers do suggest that despite a small sample size, an early hit out pays dividends.

Within two seasons of its existence, sides that have competed in Opening Round have won eight of the 12 Round 1 contests, or, 66 per cent of their second home and away matches.

To add, Opening Round sides have won 75 per cent of their Round 1 contests when facing a side absent from the first week of football (six wins from eight games).

The two sides that lost against fresh opposition also lost their Opening Round clash. Thus far, every side that has claimed victory in Opening Round has also won in Round 1 when facing teams that are yet to compete.

With that in mind, Freo’s All-Australian back flanker believes it provides an unfair advantage to those selected to play in Round 0.

“To be honest, I’m not really a fan of the Opening Round,” Clark told SEN WA Breakfast.

“I’m definitely not a fan of teams playing teams that have already played, I don’t think that’s very fair.

“It is what it is, we’ve just got to suck it up and get on with it, but I don’t really understand the point of the Opening Round.

“I think we should all just be playing Round 1 or Round 0, whatever it is. Full ball, get into it.

“I think having a competitive hit out against quality opposition certainly holds you in better stead than a team that’s had a week off and hasn’t played footy for six months.”

The Dockers open their campaign against the Cats at GMHBA in a rematch of last season’s opener that saw Fremantle fall by 78 points.

While the Cats were scheduled to feature in Opening Round last season, the contest against the Lions was cancelled and rescheduled due to extreme weather up north.

This year, the Dockers will cop a Geelong side that has competed in Opening Round, going down by 56 points against the Gold Coast Suns.

“I think we’re much better ready for it this year,” Clark said.

“We changed a few things with our prep off the back of last year, because obviously it was a new thing.

“Hopefully we’re in better stead this year and it’s actually not an issue, and I’ll be saying at this time next week that Opening Round is a great idea!”

Freo’s season kicks off at 4:15pm AEST (1:15pm AWST) this Saturday, with the Dockers expected to compete for their first ever AFL Premiership in 2026.