The biggest "What could've been?"

[sverik25]

What if...the current finals system existed in 1998?

In '98, Adelaide became premiers from 5th...despite losing their first final.

On a similar kind of note, did the AFL lose its mind when determining the structure of the 1991 finals series?

The elimination final between Geelong (3rd) and St Kilda (4th) was described as one of the great finals. Geelong were narrow winners but it was widely agreed that St Kilda were unlucky to be eliminated, especially since 5th and 6th was the other elimination final.

I wonder how that finals series might have been different if Geelong had played Essendon and St Kilda played Melbourne. That finals set-up was lunacy and was promptly changed the next year.

 

[Scotland]

What could've been... if the AFL had fair rules RE: travel in the 80s and 90s.

1990: WC (3rd) host Melbourne (4th) at Waverley
1991: WC (1st) host Melbourne (5th) and Geelong (3rd) at Waverley
1995: WC (5th) host North Melbourne (6th) at the MCG
1996: WC (4th - winners) host Essendon (6th - losers) at the MCG
1997: WC (5th) host North Melbourne (7th) at the MCG
1999: WC (5th - winners) host Carlton (6th - losers) at the MCG

 

[Scotland]

On a similar kind of note, did the AFL lose its mind when determining the structure of the 1991 finals series?

The elimination final between Geelong (3rd) and St Kilda (4th) was described as one of the great finals. Geelong were narrow winners but it was widely agreed that St Kilda were unlucky to be eliminated, especially since 5th and 6th was the other elimination final.

I wonder how that finals series might have been different if Geelong had played Essendon and St Kilda played Melbourne. That finals set-up was lunacy and was promptly changed the next year.

The old finals 6 system was bizarre.

We finished 4th in 92, beat Hawthorn who were 5th, beat Geelong who were 1st and had defeated Footscray (2nd), got a week off, then played Geelong again in the GF. Geelong played Footscray twice and use twice over a 4 week period.

 

[jo172]

What if John Cahill had been appointed first coach of the Adelaide Crows instead of Graham Cornes.

 

[Scotland]

People get hung up on 'killing clubs' but I'd love to see the parallel universe with a 12 team, 22 week H&A season national league.

 

[demondavey]

??? Carlton defeated Adelaide comfortably in the second semi - you cost us a flag you chokers.

You cost us a flag? We didn't play finals that year.

 

[Boxhead_31]

What if Carlton and Essendon were under the cap during the 90's. Who would have won those flags?

 

[Scotland]

What could've been... if Glenn McGrath didn't stand on a cricket ball at Edgbaston in 2005.

 

[HR Roughnstuf]

If Adelaide didn't get greedy, and traded Tippett for Brisbane 1st rounder in 2011.

Now that's a sliding doors moment.

The club would dodge draft sanctions, Triggs job wouldn't be under the intense scrutiny it was from supporters until he finally left, 2012 would be vastly different, and likelihood is Adelaide as a club is still mismanaged to all hell come 2017 instead of club that's grown up in a lot of senses.

So basically if they didn't get caught cheating. Maybe if they didn't cheat in the first place....

 

[iluvparis]

You cost us a flag? We didn't play finals that year.

Sorry - I thought only an Adelaide supporter would think they'd have rolled us in the GF

 

[footyfan1978]

I know it's part of folklore but as I remember it that act put you 11 pts up and although we kicked one after the bounce, there's no guarantee we would've cleared the ball from that pocket anyway. A great act of desperation that didn't necessarily make the difference one way or the other.

True in a sense but we only won by 5 points in the end so that amazing act of desperation to not give up and concede the ball to go over the line was probably the difference in the end. They were coached to do that by Jezza as saw the same act on youtube in another game against North in same year I believe.

You actually had the first 5 goals of the game from memory. I think it was our lowest score of year so Pies did well to push us to the end in that grand final. Hafey was a great coach.

 

[Pj.Rj.Hj]

...If Scott McLaren did his job and called the Tadhg Kennelly hold on Ashley Sampi in the Leo Barry moment?

Would certainly have backed Sampi to kick the goal after the siren to win the 2005 Premiership.

 

[Scotland]

I wonder how history would've treated St Kilda if they won 2009/10 or WC/Sydney if either had lost both of 2005/6.

 

[footyfan1978]

If Jesaulenko had not left at end of 1979 when the President was voted out I think fair chance we would have won at least 4 flags in a row. As it was with the gap year of 1980 with clown Percy Jones coach we won 3 out of the 4 years.

 

[Scholz Supremacy]

If Mark Williams & Phil Walsh went into damage control in the 2007 GF and put numbers in defence to stop the bleeding?

Then we wouldn't have lost by a record margin. An entire generation of Port Adelaide people wouldn't have been scarred and the club would not have been set back 5 years.

 

[JPetro83]

The SANFL accepting the VFL's invitation in 1982 to enter a new side in the VFL.. imagine.. the Adelaide side back then would have been a state team.. If that had happened there wouldn't have been the civil war here in SA in mid 1990.

Imagine if the West Coast Eagles were found out post 2005/early 2006 about their culture and star players being on party drugs.. the crows just might have won the 06 GF that year.

What if Footscary fans didn't raise the cash in 1989 to save them from a merger? there still would have been a Fitzroy Footy club.. just as the Fitzroy Bulldogs. There are a lot of "what could have been" if a few of those mergers had gone through.

 

[Scatter]

...If Scott McLaren did his job and called the Tadhg Kennelly hold on Ashley Sampi in the Leo Barry moment?

Would certainly have backed Sampi to kick the goal after the siren to win the 2005 Premiership.

Sampi did have form, from memory kicked a goal after the siren to draw a match a few years earlier from a similar position (albeit at Subi Oval).

 

[JPetro83]

If Mark Williams & Phil Walsh went into damage control in the 2007 GF and put numbers in defence to stop the bleeding?

Then we wouldn't have lost by a record margin. An entire generation of Port Adelaide people wouldn't have been scarred and the club would not have been set back 5 years.

It was meant to be.. imagine if they did do that? imagine the last 10 years without 119 point jokes????????

 

[JPetro83]

It was out of the way an difficult to get to when it was the VFL.

Roll forward to the AFL, and imagine interstate teams fans trying to get there for the grand final.

For good or ill, the central location of the MCG is a massive benefit, but especially for those from other states.

Im sure an extra 27mins by train from the cbd of melb to VFL park wouldn't have been an issue?

 

[blueboy25]

What if Carlton and Essendon were under the cap during the 90's. Who would have won those flags?

What about West Coast who were caught or Geelong or Sydney or Melbourne or Collingwood or pretty much every other team.

In the 90's Carlton were caught exceeding the cap by $85k. Geelong were caught exceeding the cap by $77k.

 

[Coaster2012]

What about Cousins? Guy was a beast, sure he won a brownlow and a flag, but there had to be have been so much more he could have done.

 

[Countrypie]

If Jesaulenko had not left at end of 1979 when the President was voted out I think fair chance we would have won at least 4 flags in a row. As it was with the gap year of 1980 with clown Percy Jones coach we won 3 out of the 4 years.

Yeah - agree. I never understood that. Although Swan Mckay reckons the team basically coached themselves during that era. They still finished 3rd with Percy as coach

 

[telsor]

Im sure an extra 27mins by train from the cbd of melb to VFL park wouldn't have been an issue?

Express from the city...maybe 27mins, probably a fair bit more...27mins would be unlikely considering the need to run other trains on the Dandenong/Pakenham line to service the other stops (and those trains would get in the way). More likely they'd run 'heavier than usual' services to Huntingdale and an express shuttle on the special line from there to VFL park.

Also, unless they forked out for 2 lines from Huntingdale to VFL park (which would be a very tight fit on the median strip up North/Wellington Rd). You'd only have one train running on that strip...which would probably be a 10-15 mins return...Let's say you could double up at the end, and it's set up to get green lights at all the major intersections, so 1 every 5 mins.

1000 people per train, so 12,000/people per hour....It would take a while to fill a 155,000 stadium that way. (The MCG has Richmond station...10 platforms + Jolimont with 2 more, and a lot of people still walk from Flinders St, Parliament or wherever)


In short, the train line would help a bit, but not that much.

 

[emuboy]

The country zones were to be roated around every year to ensure that no club could dominate but 2 clubs Hawthorn and Carlton did not want to be rotated because they had the best zones.

Carlton had Bendigo, which was a fruitful country zone for the Blues indicated by the premierships won by the club from the late 1960s to the mid 1980s.

However, something seems to have gone very wrong since then, as the Bendigo Pioneers are the easybeats of the TAC Cup, and this with other country areas in Northern and Central Victoria aligned to the Pioneers. The team has not played finals for over a decade, and has won the wooden spoon many times, most recently this season.

Talking about Carlton, what would have happened if their change of emblem from the Blues to the Cockatoos attempted in the late 1940s been successful? The Carlton theme song might go something like this:

'We are the Cockatoos, we are the famous Carlton Cockatoos. We're the team that never lets you down, we're the only team old Carlton knows. With all the champions they like to send up, we'll keep our end up. And they will know that they've been playing, against the Carlton Cockatoos.'

 

[bigpapagman]

There are many sliding door moments throughout VFL/AFL history that make you think, "What could have been?". From players, to administrative, what are some that stand out in your mind?

Original VFL Park Capacity
Having the train line extended to the stadium and the full plans for the stadium capacity fulfilled, would it be hosting the Grand Final from now on? 150,000 fans packed out in the eastern suburbs could have been possible if the infrastructure supported it. Or would it have been the great white elephant for the VFL?

Promotion/Relegation National League
There was talk sometimes in the 50s to have a national league that incorporated promotion/relegation from the state leagues. Would that have been the more ideal setup to the eventual VFL/AFL transition? Would this have been your preferred method?

Nathan Ablett Retiring
This is just one for cats fans, but a young player with so much potential and promise pulls the plug early on his career. What would it have meant for the Cats group of 2008+ if he was still playing? I always feel it would have made our 2008 campaign a bit better without having to play Lonergan forward.

What else is there?

Nathan isn't retired. He's playing with me in a country reserves Grand Final on Saturday.