The AFL finals haven’t changed in 25 years, until now. What is the wildcard round?

This weekend, the AFL will unveil a first: a “wildcard round”. This round involves two matches to kick off the finals series, in the first change to the league’s finals format in 25 years. On Friday, the Western Bulldogs will host Collingwood in the first wildcard final, with Melbourne then taking on Carlton on Saturday night. But why was this brought in, how will it work, and how have the league’s finals series evolved over time? How the wildcard round works In recent years the top eight…