News ‘Would be unreal’: AFL to consult clubs over addition of ‘wildcard round’ to finals

[Rod Stroker]

So Brad doesn't like the idea. What a surprise. Imagine if they finally make the 8, and then get knocked out by 9th or 10th. BF would be in meltdown.

Clarkson opens up on break; Blue cops ban; Scott not wild on wildcards

Alastair Clarkson says he is refreshed after having time off, but his full return to the coaching box may not happen at all this season. Meanwhile, Blues backman Jordan Boyd cops a lengthy ban at the tribunal while it was good news for Sydney’s Dane Rampe.

www.theage.com.au

 

[kickthething]

It will happen……the AFLs mouthpiece.Whiteley is spruiking it up and starting the conditioning for everyone toge5 used to it….AFL should look at the Coates league….everyone makes finals..all the home and away season does is work out seedlings.

 

[TheUnicorn]

So Brad doesn't like the idea. What a surprise. Imagine if they finally make the 8, and then get knocked out by 9th or 10th. BF would be in meltdown.

Clarkson opens up on break; Blue cops ban; Scott not wild on wildcards

Alastair Clarkson says he is refreshed after having time off, but his full return to the coaching box may not happen at all this season. Meanwhile, Blues backman Jordan Boyd cops a lengthy ban at the tribunal while it was good news for Sydney’s Dane Rampe.

www.theage.com.au

Essendon have no issue making the 8 it's the next part that's the issue.

 

[Coasters7]

I wish bigfooty was around during the expansion from a final 4.. to a final 5.. to a final 6.. to a final 8.



How would a team "fluke" multiple finals win to a grand final win.

Sounds like when the AFL compromised the draft over several years allowing a team to fluke a 3 peat

Not inconceivable with the evenness of todays comp. Sydney currently sit in 14th, a game and a half out of the 8. They made a GF last year.

There’s definitely a scenario in which a Victorian side gets a Bulldogs-esque run with venues and wins a flag from 10th and it would look ridiculous after the Collingwood and Port types were leading the pack all year.

Heck, Freo is only 2 games out of the 8 and have knocked off Melbourne and Geelong this year so why not give them a shot from 15th as well.

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

To all the people saying no to this - what is your solution for the finals system when Tasmania enters the league in a few years from now? IMO the finals system is going to have to change soon anyway so why not just do it now so its all in place for Tassie (and the 20th team) when they enter in a few years instead of trying to implement an untried concept in an expansion year. Do it now and iron out any creases over the next few years.

Eight is too many out of eighteen. Eight is the right amount for a 24 team competition (although at that point, promotion/relegation and 12 team divisions playing each other twice for 22 games makes more sense).

 

[Biggy_Boy]

It's not final 10 at all.

Its the final 6 who are confirmed end of regular season.

The remaining 2 spots are up for grabs between 7 and 10. Stop trying to change the narrative

It's starting finals a week early and giving the top 6 a week off. 7v10, 8v9 are the first set of elimination finals. Do you think the second week of finals is also not part of finals because the QF winners don't play?

 

[Biggy_Boy]

How about this for a real WILDCARD Finals round.

Top 12 qualify.
First week of finals looks like this.
1-6: BYE

A: 9 v 12 (Friday night)
B: 10 v 11 (Saturday afternoon)

THEN
7 v A (Saturday night)
8 v B (Sunday afternoon)

Next week the two teams that emerge play 5th and 6th. 9th-12th don't necessarily get a HG advantage because the home ground for both games is determined by 7th and 8th.

 

[longsuffreosupp]

I think there is some benefit to having a 10 team finals series. It'll give teams that aren't totally ready for finals that experience, which in turn could improve the quality of the comp, and also keep the interest going longer in the season for those teams down the bottom.

 

[Aristotle Pickett the3rd]

The AFL will on Tuesday ask the 18 club chief executives whether it supports the introduction of a wildcard round, expanding the finals series.
The Herald Sun’s Jon Ralph reported CEO-elect Andrew Dillon would speak to the club bosses during a wide-ranging meeting at Werribee Mansion across Tuesday and Wednesday.
Following the success of Gather Round, the AFL wants to consider more innovative fixture ideas which could include allowing more teams into the finals series.
Using the pre-finals bye weekend the AFL could hold two ‘wildcard’ finals, between 7th and 10th as well as 8th and 9th, forcing those teams to win their way into the traditional final eight.
Technically these would not be ‘wildcard’ teams, as that usually refers to non-traditional qualifying teams - such as non-division winners in the NFL - but just extra finalists.
Either way the addition would give the teams who finish fifth and sixth an extra advantage, as they along with the top four would enjoy the pre-finals bye.

‘Would be unreal’: AFL to consult clubs over addition of ‘wildcard round’ to finals

‘Would be unreal’: AFL to consult clubs over addition of ‘wildcard round’ to finals

www.foxsports.com.au

More money hungry bastardisation of the AFL.

 

[GC2015]

Call it what it is, it's an expanded 10 team finals series... It's like calling the current 5th v 8th and 6th v 7th Elimination finals games a wildcard round to enter the top 6 finals series.

It depends on how you choose to define a "wildcard" game/weekend. Major League Baseball's first week of playoffs is labelled the "Wild Card Series" and that sees 3rd v 6th & 4th v 5th with the winners advancing and earning the right to play 1st or 2nd in the second week of the playoffs. It's still an elimination series just like the next round, but they've just chosen to call it a "Wild Card Series" and market it accordingly. The NBA call their version the "play-in" games and that sees 7 v 8 & 9 v 10 with a qualifying game and two sudden death games to determine which team earns the 8th seed in the playoffs. The NFL call their first playoffs week the "Super Wild Card Weekend" and they essentially award three wildcard positions to teams in 5th, 6th & 7th to play against 2nd, 3rd and 4th in sudden death elimination games. The NHL awards "wild cards" to teams ranked 7th & 8th and make them play against 1st & 2nd in the first round of the playoffs.

So all four major sports leagues in the US do it differently but they all have a wildcard/play-in system that has added more teams to their playoffs system and most have expanded to add more wildcard games in recent years. Just like those American leagues, the AFL can choose how they want to define a "wildcard" game and the criteria a team must fulfil to earn said wildcard. Maybe the right thing to do is to start by adding an 8th v 9th wildcard game in that bye week and then when Tasmania/Team 20 enter the league we expand it to add the 7th v 10th wildcard game. That way you have half the league competing in the post-season competition and half not. Everyone seemed to be happy with top 8 qualifying in the 16-team league so why not go back to awarding 50% of the league?

Eight is too many out of eighteen. Eight is the right amount for a 24 team competition (although at that point, promotion/relegation and 12 team divisions playing each other twice for 22 games makes more sense).

Based on what? With wildcard games included, the NBA has 20/30 teams (66.6%), the NHL has 16/32 (50%), the NFL has 14/32 (43.7%) and the MLB has 12/30 teams (40%). We currently have 8/18 (44.4%) which would be in the lower end when compared to the American leagues. Who's to say one system is better than another?

 

[Roby]

You all complaining but you're all turning up if your team is there. In a few years nobody will even reference this thread any longer.

 

[jackster83]

Just one match, 8th vs 9th would be alright IMO.

We've had some decent teams missing out on 8th spot by a couple of goals worth of % (Carlton last year, Melbourne in 2017). The 10th team is usually a fair bit shitter than the 7th ranked side though, so I wouldn't involve them.

If they really want to commercialize it, they could sell the hosting rights (i.e Gather Round).

 

[GC2015]

Just one match, 8th vs 9th would be alright IMO.

We've had some decent teams missing out on 8th spot by a couple of goals worth of % (Carlton last year, Melbourne in 2017). The 10th team is usually a fair bit shitter than the 7th ranked side though, so I wouldn't involve them.

If they really want to commercialize it, they could sell the hosting rights (i.e Gather Round).

Introducing an 8th v 9th wildcard game until Tassie/Team 20 enter seems like a fair compromise. Literally 50% of the league competing in the post-season competition just like it was before the most recent expansion teams were added.

 

[Randomizor]

How about we just fix up the fixture first? In the long term that will have a much greater effect on ensuring the top 8 deserve to be there.

 

[Borussia Teeth]

Greg Champion was ahead of his time… all 16 sides in the final 8.

 

[Daniel B]

They already have a wildcard round: 5-8. The real finalists are the top 4.

Also, it clear what will happen here: the clubs will say, "No", so the AFL will go ahead with the idea.

 

[Rabbit of Caerbannog]

With wildcard games included, the NBA has 20/30 teams (66.6%), the NHL has 16/32 (50%), the NFL has 14/32 (43.7%) and the MLB has 12/30 teams (40%). We currently have 8/18 (44.4%) which would be in the lower end when compared to the American leagues. Who's to say one system is better than another?

NBA having 2/3 of the competition still alive after an 82 game season is an embarrassment. The rest of the leagues currently have a good balance.

 

[bloodsbigot]

Why the * would they change the finals? They have the perfect system already!

I think the old final 4 system was better.

 

[Wallaby]

No. Don't like it.

If Tassie, and team 20 come in - maybe. But make the fixture fair first.

 

[Truetiger]

It will happen……the AFLs mouthpiece.Whiteley is spruiking it up and starting the conditioning for everyone toge5 used to it….AFL should look at the Coates league….everyone makes finals..all the home and away season does is work out seedlings.

Will see first hand how it works with this years VFL comp.

 

[Stottzy]

I was against the idea, until the point that was raised that teams are getting in the 8 solely on being favoured on a uneven draw. Unless the fixture is going to be completely fair, then I think it would be good.

 

[mr bagcroft]

You all complaining but you're all turning up if your team is there. In a few years nobody will even reference this thread any longer.

nope. Stopped turning up forever in 2017.
this is a dumb idea and if the saints limped in, I would be as equally uninterested in going as I am now.
Dumb idea is dumb.

 

[HairyO]

Go full NBA. Top 12 make it and play best of 3 games til the Prelims when they switch to best of 7.

We can finish up for Christmas.

Or make finals actually matter and have a top 6. Dont allow mediocre teams in to finals in a system clearly designed to only generate money and do nothing for the competition.

 

[mr bagcroft]

I'd prefer to see the bottom 4 fight it out for the first pick.

Bugger the pick,
One player from each side after a loss executed.

 

[SBYM]

Is the flashing goalposts/multi-ball thingy dead dead or just dead?