AFL set to tackle NRL head-on AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou is considering an earlier start to the season next year. THE AFL's determination to continue making serious inroads into rugby league's heartland on the eastern seaboard will see it review its season structure next year, with chief executive Andrew Demetriou keen to bring forward the start of the season proper to avoid the NRL being given a proverbial "free kick." Addressing the crowd at yesterday's season launch of the Gold Coast Suns, Demetriou revealed his desire to bring forward the start of the AFL season from 2014. He contends rugby league is being handed an early-season gift by the present set-up, as the NRL season is a month old by the time the AFL gets going. Rugby league fans have already begun talking about and gearing up for the representative season. The State of Origin series remains the highest-rating television program in the country. The AFL season started last weekend, two weeks after the NRL opener, while the Super 15 Rugby campaign started in mid-February. Demetriou said that that delay was hurting the Suns, Brisbane, Sydney and Greater Western Sydney and the AFL's push into NSW and Queensland needed to take that into account. "I don't think it's sustainable for our competition to be starting the season when we start it," he said. We are four weeks behind the NRL and the Super 15 competition ... it makes it very hard for the two clubs in Queensland and two clubs in NSW to actually generate any oxygen when we're doing that. That's a decision we have to think about seriously and we have to do something about. Demetriou's plan would face several hurdles, however, with at least three venues - the Gabba, SCG and MCG - all in use until the end of March each year for the domestic cricket season. Adding more rounds would face resistance from the powerful AFL Players Association considering the extra physical toll it would take, particularly given the especially warm conditions they would encounter in Queensland. Demetriou believes those issues aren't insurmountable, with options such as this year's staggered opening round, over two weekends, a possible problem-solver. "We are not averse to staggering the start of the season," he said. You could think laterally about having three or four games to open the season where we might not use cricket grounds. We've got Metricon (Stadium) available. We could play games away from the Gabba if we had to. Speaking before Demetriou's address, Suns coach Guy McKenna declared this season the training wheels had to come off. In their third AFL season, McKenna said that the days of hard-fought losses being acceptable were drawing to an end. "Eight times last season we were in front at half-time ... on another five occasions we were within two kicks at the main break," McKenna said. We went on to win three of those games. We need to understand as a group that we must compete for longer periods this season. That's the expectation. As a coaching staff we must coach and strive for excellence. We are blissfully aware here in the Gold Coast footy department that if we are to get the sort of acceptance and participation we should as a game here on the Coast, we need to be more successful on the field. It is that simple. Demetriou said he was encouraged by the improvement shown in the pre-season by the Suns and believed the club was on the brink of delivering something special for its members, starting this weekend against St Kilda. "To be honest, I think the result on Saturday night against St Kilda might well surprise a few people," Demetriou said.