Brisbane star midfielder Josh Dunkley is all for the radical fixture proposition that would involve the introduction of an in-season tournament, saying it will reduce the competitive advantage.
On Monday, news came to light that the AFL is in "explorative work" regarding how the competition schedule will look in the next "5-10 year period". An idea was floated where each team, upon Tasmanian's entry into the league, will face each other once, as well as participate in Gather Round and Rivalry Round, leaving room for the NBA-style in-season tournament.
The NBA introduced the secondary tournament in 2023 to combat rival code NFL and its viewership, whilst also adding another incentive for teams to compete at their best all year round.
Albeit the financial reward wouldn't pale in comparison, a prize money figure of $5 million to the victor has been floated.
"It'd be great," Dunkley said on Tuesday.
"If we can play every team once and then have a little in-season tournament, like the NBA do โฆ it'd be really exciting for the competition.
"When you play everyone once, it's good, it's fair, and you get to see how you go against opposition in one game.
"At the moment, there are times where we're playing different teams and other teams are playing different teams, and the competitive advantage is always a bit of a question mark for a lot of people.
"For us, it's about playing the best, and everyone, once, and then that mid-season tournament would be pretty cool."
The discussion between AFL CEO Andrew Dillon, his team and all 19 club CEOs was fitting following a weekend where all top nine sides faced the bottom nine sides.
Also, in a rare occurrence, there is a major gap between the two halves of the ladder, with Sydney in 10th, sitting three games behind Fremantle in ninth.
After Round 17 last year, Hawthorn (13th) was only a game outside the top eight. In 2023, Richmond (12th) was also only one win behind a finals spot.
The trend continues for more years, proving that the discrepancy between teams in 2025 is uncommon.