Inaugural wildcard finals start this weekend: Bulldogs face Collingwood

Western Bulldogs play Collingwood and Melbourne face Carlton in the inaugural wildcard finals this weekend, launching the 2026 AFL finals series.

Why it mattersThe wildcard format is a new structure for the 2026 AFL finals series.

AustraliaAFL fans across Australia will watch a new playoffs format start this weekend, giving four teams a sudden-death opportunity.

✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 1 h ago

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