Maybe the AFL should also have a relegation round so teams at the bottom have something to fight for and bring in the crowds!
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AFL Introduces Wild Card Round
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Here is the 1994 ladder.
Here is the 1994 finals series:
Now, not withstanding that the wrong "type" of final 8 was brought in and it should have been the system they used from 2000 onwards, can anyone explain to be the awful horrible legacy that having 8 teams in the finals in 1994 had for the sport? Did the AFL ever recover from the awful travesty of 1994?
Can someone explain to me, the awful harm that was caused to the sport in 1994 and why having 7th and 8th in the finals was so harmful to the sport in that 15-team league? I want a detailed answer.
Here is the 1994 finals series:
Now, not withstanding that the wrong "type" of final 8 was brought in and it should have been the system they used from 2000 onwards, can anyone explain to be the awful horrible legacy that having 8 teams in the finals in 1994 had for the sport? Did the AFL ever recover from the awful travesty of 1994?
Can someone explain to me, the awful harm that was caused to the sport in 1994 and why having 7th and 8th in the finals was so harmful to the sport in that 15-team league? I want a detailed answer.
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Shouldnt actually have to do it, to know its time to can this idea now.
threenewpadlocks
Brownlow Medallist
I think people are missing the point a little.
AFL wants more competitive games in the back end of the year, and giving teams ranked down to 12th, 13th etc. a sniff at finals allows them to do that.
Whatever you think of past finals series with less than half the teams playing finals is from an era where players would play hard until the end of the season. Now with more long term contracts, injuries, etc. you see more blowout margins in the depths of the season that the AFL wants to avoid.
Since 2013 and excluding 2020, this is the average margin of every home and away AFL game per month:
It's the average margin of games in August that makes the difference here. It clearly blows out late in the season.
Obviously it's not going to change the rank late-season blowouts with bad teams but I think the AFL wants to avoid any team that's within a game or two of 10th place just giving up with a round or two to go, especially when up against good opponents or playing away from home, where it's all too easy for players to "give up" by 1% late in a game that lets a close game not be too close anymore when there's nothing on the line, where with 9th or 10th that there's something on the line.
I agree in a perfect world where players are always trying their hardest we don't need a final 10, but if leads to a few August home and away games being a closer and more entertaining for me (as a neutral), it's a good thing IMO.
AFL wants more competitive games in the back end of the year, and giving teams ranked down to 12th, 13th etc. a sniff at finals allows them to do that.
Whatever you think of past finals series with less than half the teams playing finals is from an era where players would play hard until the end of the season. Now with more long term contracts, injuries, etc. you see more blowout margins in the depths of the season that the AFL wants to avoid.
Since 2013 and excluding 2020, this is the average margin of every home and away AFL game per month:
| Month | Margin |
| March | 31.1 |
| April | 33.9 |
| May | 34.0 |
| June | 31.3 |
| July | 31.5 |
| August | 36.6 |
| September | 42.9 |
It's the average margin of games in August that makes the difference here. It clearly blows out late in the season.
Obviously it's not going to change the rank late-season blowouts with bad teams but I think the AFL wants to avoid any team that's within a game or two of 10th place just giving up with a round or two to go, especially when up against good opponents or playing away from home, where it's all too easy for players to "give up" by 1% late in a game that lets a close game not be too close anymore when there's nothing on the line, where with 9th or 10th that there's something on the line.
I agree in a perfect world where players are always trying their hardest we don't need a final 10, but if leads to a few August home and away games being a closer and more entertaining for me (as a neutral), it's a good thing IMO.
Its shyte
No point dressing it up
Toy football that nobody except Essendon fans care about
No point dressing it up
Toy football that nobody except Essendon fans care about
Bad teams making finals is simply bad
Dan is a sad story of how far Essendon has declined
Essendon supporters of 30 years ago would never ever stood for this rubbish
Give us finals desperation is so sad and pathetic
Essendon supporters of 30 years ago would never ever stood for this rubbish
Give us finals desperation is so sad and pathetic
Probably the idiots that follow those clubs.
There's discussion on these pages about teams 9 and 10 aren't worthy of playing finals.
Well I'd argue that's subject to opinion.
For example this year one could argue the dogs and swans were worthy.
Further, this notion that there is some huge gap between the elite, like the top 4 this year and every other team is a bit of a misnomer IMO.
Didn't the premier draw with North this year? Off the top of my head there are plural games every year that display the gap between the bottom and the top four is not huge as some would like to make it out.
The competition is very even and every single AFL listed player is an absolute jet, us fans are used to watching this elite comp only hence we label certain teams and players as spuds when those spuds are clearly above the levels down, then it comes down to how well the footy departments use the cattle, injuries etc.
For example, Fly and his footy department managed a flag with what was not the best list in it.
It really is that even.
Do I support this wildcard finals? I'll judge when it comes round, it does have pros and cons as have been explained by others on these pages.
Oh and Dan26 the bulk of fans are not idiots, apathetic maybe but certainly not morons. In fact some fans are quite astute at analysing the game and have salient points about the pros and cons of added rules etc.
Well I'd argue that's subject to opinion.
For example this year one could argue the dogs and swans were worthy.
Further, this notion that there is some huge gap between the elite, like the top 4 this year and every other team is a bit of a misnomer IMO.
Didn't the premier draw with North this year? Off the top of my head there are plural games every year that display the gap between the bottom and the top four is not huge as some would like to make it out.
The competition is very even and every single AFL listed player is an absolute jet, us fans are used to watching this elite comp only hence we label certain teams and players as spuds when those spuds are clearly above the levels down, then it comes down to how well the footy departments use the cattle, injuries etc.
For example, Fly and his footy department managed a flag with what was not the best list in it.
It really is that even.
Do I support this wildcard finals? I'll judge when it comes round, it does have pros and cons as have been explained by others on these pages.
Oh and Dan26 the bulk of fans are not idiots, apathetic maybe but certainly not morons. In fact some fans are quite astute at analysing the game and have salient points about the pros and cons of added rules etc.
It blows out late in the season because the teams with poor lists with lack of talent and skills get exposed more due to fatigue setting in.
Now we want two of those teams playing finals football...
Some are smart, I concede that. Many are not.
It's got nothing to do with who i support. Nothing. At all. Zilch. It's about what's best for the game. I supported the final-8 in 1994 and we had just won the premiership the year before.
I supported the final-6 in 1991 and we had just made the Grand Final the year before.
It's about having a more interesting home and away season with more games that are meaningful.
Ranking teams by premierships removes the opinion element for something objective.
You're not just deciding that Sydney and Bulldogs of 2025 are worthy - you're deciding that any team ranked 9th and 10th from here until the system changes again - is now deemed worthy of playing finals.
The line of final 5/6/8/10 is arbitrary, to a point - but once it crosses more than half the comp it feels to me like it's no longer a coveted or worthy claim to say that you've played in finals or a coach has taken a team into the finals - cos it's just not the same achievement any more. The fewer teams in the finals the more valuable/esteemed/noteworthy the achievement is.
You gotta draw the line somehwere. If it was a top 2 most would say that's too narrow. If it's top 18 then most would say that's too far the other way. But the AFL doesn't care about what 'most would say' because they've ignored the fan votes on this exact question.
My opinion is that there should never be more than half the comp in the finals. So if they really want a final 10 they should mature the comp into 20 teams first.
This is my opinion too, none the less opinion only.
In the USA, it is just the NBA out of the big four leagues that have more than half the teams in finals. The BBL at one point had five out of eight in finals, but it has since been reduced to four. What other leagues out there have more than half the competition in finals?
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Well of course Essendon fans are happy with a final 10.
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dazbroncos
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More seppo bullshit that gains the game nothing but a revenue increase so Dillon can say he gets a raise bc of the more money he generated.... I mean the players generated.
GO Catters
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Ditch the stupid Wildcard name.
Call them the First Elimination Final and Second Elimination Final.
Then the following week, what was previously the First and Second Elimination Finals now become the Third Elimination Final and Fourth Elimination Final.
Everything else keeps the same name for simplicity sake.
Call them the First Elimination Final and Second Elimination Final.
Then the following week, what was previously the First and Second Elimination Finals now become the Third Elimination Final and Fourth Elimination Final.
Everything else keeps the same name for simplicity sake.
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You could, but that doesn't make it correct. Or much of an argument if you bothered to look at what they did.
The Dogs looked a million dollars in murdering teams beneath them (except for GWS both times bizarrely) but otherwise, despite being competitive, lost pretty much every time they played a team inside the top 8 (i.e. actual finalist). Lost to Brisbane twice. Lost to Fremantle twice. Lost to Hawthorn, Geelong, Gold Coast, and Collingwood. They weren't worthy, they just weren't good enough. Bad luck.
I don't know what universe there is where the Swans were finals worthy. They won two games even less than the Dogs, and finished with a percentage of 97.0. That's not finals worthy, that's average to crap.
No they aren't. That's absolutely laughable. There are still spuds on every single list, and the lower on the ladder the team is, the more spuds there. It's not unusual for one or two to be in the premiership team.
Macca180
Club Legend
I don't know until it happens.
Need to see how it goes, then judge.
That whole bye is brutal.
This may be good.
Need to see how it goes, then judge.
That whole bye is brutal.
This may be good.
I wish it wasn't called a final though, I think it would be a better sell if they were called qualification for finals games, then people wouldn't be so upset about it 'ruining the finals', as it's effectively the same top 8 finals series being played at the exact same time anyway.
Another example of Dillon not reading the crowd and selling the idea poorly, despite being a fan of the wildcard round myself.
Another example of Dillon not reading the crowd and selling the idea poorly, despite being a fan of the wildcard round myself.
If it is not finals (I think it is), they are play-in games.
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