Red Crow
Modrarator
This is all moot now for this season, but to clear a few questions up from earlier in the finals series...
Collingwood would have been the home team. The AFL codified the rules in early 2024 to re-rank teams during the finals for the purposes of Grand Final hosting and final placings for the draft.
QF winners - seeds 1 and 2
QF losers - seeds 3 and 4
EF winners - seeds 5 and 6
EF losers - seeds 7 and 8
The seeding goes to whoever finished higher on the ladder. So as QF winners, Geelong became 1st seed and Collingwood 2nd seed as Geelong had finished higher than Collingwood, rather than Collingwood "taking" Adelaide's first seed (which Eddie had tried to claim in 2018 when Collingwood beat the number 1 seed Richmond in the PF, hoping to have Collingwood as the home team for the GF). Naturally any EF winner that goes on to beat a QF loser continues to climb the seed rankings. For example, this year after finish on top but crashing out after a SF, Adelaide officially finish in fifth place, with Hawthorn jumping to fourth.
While the mens GF is permanently at the MCG and GF home team status is for little more than administrative and uniform purposes, it does have a more meaningful impact in AFLW where the higher ranked team actually gets to host the GF.
This was correct from GF week 2016 until early 2024.
A couple of issues with this, mainly the fact that Hawthorn didn't knock off West Coast in the Qualifying Final at all. It was West Coast who won, with Hawthorn going the "long way" and beating Fremantle at Subiaco in the Preliminary Final. While it is true that Hawthorn were named as the home team for the Grand Final, that was under the old system whereby the winner of the "First Preliminary Final" was always named first. This is why Hawthorn, despite being the home team, were directed to wear white shorts in the GF with West Coast wearing their preferred uniform of all-royal.
I've updated the OP of the Grand Final Policy thread to reflect the new rules.
Collingwood would have been the home team. The AFL codified the rules in early 2024 to re-rank teams during the finals for the purposes of Grand Final hosting and final placings for the draft.
QF winners - seeds 1 and 2
QF losers - seeds 3 and 4
EF winners - seeds 5 and 6
EF losers - seeds 7 and 8
The seeding goes to whoever finished higher on the ladder. So as QF winners, Geelong became 1st seed and Collingwood 2nd seed as Geelong had finished higher than Collingwood, rather than Collingwood "taking" Adelaide's first seed (which Eddie had tried to claim in 2018 when Collingwood beat the number 1 seed Richmond in the PF, hoping to have Collingwood as the home team for the GF). Naturally any EF winner that goes on to beat a QF loser continues to climb the seed rankings. For example, this year after finish on top but crashing out after a SF, Adelaide officially finish in fifth place, with Hawthorn jumping to fourth.
While the mens GF is permanently at the MCG and GF home team status is for little more than administrative and uniform purposes, it does have a more meaningful impact in AFLW where the higher ranked team actually gets to host the GF.
This was correct from GF week 2016 until early 2024.
A couple of issues with this, mainly the fact that Hawthorn didn't knock off West Coast in the Qualifying Final at all. It was West Coast who won, with Hawthorn going the "long way" and beating Fremantle at Subiaco in the Preliminary Final. While it is true that Hawthorn were named as the home team for the Grand Final, that was under the old system whereby the winner of the "First Preliminary Final" was always named first. This is why Hawthorn, despite being the home team, were directed to wear white shorts in the GF with West Coast wearing their preferred uniform of all-royal.
I've updated the OP of the Grand Final Policy thread to reflect the new rules.
