Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick has shared his hardline stance on how the AFL should schedule its pre-season after noting the inconsistencies in the current setup.
Hardwick flagged the stop-start nature of the summer training months, suggesting it "doesn't flow" well from the end of the season and into the new year ahead of the upcoming campaign.
Calls have been made for both an increased player contact time at clubs amid rising injury tolls that will see stars like Marcus Bontempelli and Errol Gulden miss the opening month or so of 2025.
"We train two and a half, three weeks before Christmas," Hardwick said on AFL360.
"Then we have three weeks off. Then we come back. Then we got community camps. We got four-day breaks. We got AFLPA camps.
"So, everything doesn't flow. Whether or not we say, listen, 'Guys, pre-Christmas, you guys have what you have, but Jan 1, we're back' and then we're just with the coaches for 71 days until our season starts.
"And then we can get flow into our pre-season and games."
Hardwick's comments come following his criticism of the league's pre-season scheduling during the Community Series.
Following his club's final tune-up for the 2025 season against Sydney, the three-time premiership coach said that both sides had a limited time to recover and prepare for the start of the year.
"We've got to put our heads together and figure out what we can do and get it a bit tighter," Hardwick said to Fox Footy.
"Even our counterparts, Sydney can't get home tonight, they play Friday, and they're stuck here tonight.
"We've just got to get this scheduling better.
"They've got one job, the AFL, let's get it sorted out."
Gold Coast are set to begin the new season with a clash against Essendon on Saturday at People First Stadium.
However, the match is in jeopardy due to the incoming Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
The AFL has yet to make an official decision on the matter but could look at postponing the contest.
