AFL Fixture 2015: EFL and VAFA unfazed by return of Saturday afternoon AFL blockbusters The 2015 AFL fixture list has been described as fan friendly, with the standout feature being the return of the Saturday afternoon blockbuster at the MCG. More blockbuster Saturday afternoon AFL games in Melbourne next season will clash with local footy games likes Eastern Football League Division 1 side Norwood. Picture: Chris Eastman Source: News Corp Australia THE two biggest metropolitan football leagues in Melbourne believe local attendances and general interest in their competitions won't be hindered by the AFL's push to play more blockbuster games on Saturday afternoons next season. The AFL released its "fan-friendly" 2015 fixture on Thursday, which revealed the return of big-drawing matches on Saturday afternoons at the MCG involving heavily-followed Victorian clubs. Carlton-Essendon, Essendon-Collingwood, Richmond-Geelong, Hawthorn-Essendon, Collingwood-Carlton and Collingwood-Richmond are all big match-ups scheduled for the traditional timeslot in 2015. The games will clash with the majority of Victorian local football leagues, which schedule their marquee senior matches around 2pm on a Saturday. Eastern Football League (EFL) chief executive Phil Murton admitted the AFL's rekindled interest in Saturday afternoons is likely to have some influence on local league attendances, but said community games wouldn't become "ghost towns" next season. Whenever you've got competing events against you, you're wary of an impact. With not a huge number of clubs having sufficient lighting to play night games and our junior footy being played on a Sunday, we're locked in to 2.10pm on a Saturday," Murton said. Leigh Williams" Norwood won the 2014 Division 1 EFL Grand Final. But there are differences between the regular EFL goer and an AFL goer who attends on a regular basis. Going to the AFL now is like going to any big event. There's no difference to going to a concert at Etihad than a footy game at Etihad - and it's just as expensive. The EFL is very family-friendly and inexpensive. Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) spokesman Andrew Leonard said the AFL's broadcast-focused fixture strategy over recent years had given local leagues a "leg up" and drawn people to involve themselves with local football. And Leonard said those community footy converts wouldn't be going anywhere. "In terms of overall crowd numbers, we don't think it'll have a big impact as it's free entry for VAFA games," he said. We have a real point of difference. There's no alcohol served until after the final siren, so it's a family-friendly environment. A lot of young families, wives and girlfriends are watching the senior game, plus you can walk out onto the ground during breaks, go into the rooms during pre-game, half-time time and afterwards. It's an experience young kids and parents like doing and they are integrating into the club environment. Murton said the AFL and local leagues will always be different products and offer fans different experiences. "If you've got an EFL team, you go every week, whereas in the AFL, there are people who are staunch club members, but then you've got people who have kids and it's really hard work, so they'll go a few times a year," he said. The 2014 VAFA Premier Grand Final was played between Sam Hibbins" Collegians and Uni Blacks. Picture: Susan Windmiller Source: News Corp Australia It'll probably be dependent on what teams are playing when. For us there are a lot of Hawthorn supporters out in the eastern suburbs and there's lots of Collingwood supporters everywhere. So when those teams are playing on a Saturday afternoon we might notice the impact a bit more than others. To better manage the equality of double match-ups, the AFL has used a seeded draw, which splits the 18 clubs into three groups of six based on the 2014 ladder, to compile its fixture in the hope of producing as many close matches as possible. Murton said the seeded draw, a fixture method that has been used by the EFL and other local league for many years, could entice more local footy goers to attend AFL matches. The competitiveness of games could accentuate the impact. With the seeded draw, people might be more motivated to go to AFL games as their teams will be more likely to win," Murton said. It's up to us and our clubs, who have got to promote the benefits of going local for your footy. Our clubs are getting better at becoming integral parts of the local community. If we continue to do those things well, we can continue to attract more people to our games. Originally published as Local leagues unfazed by Saturday blockbusters