Conferences in the AFL?

[Herne Hill Hammer]

Instead of conferences, how about this instead?

Since the AFL seems hell bent on expanding to 18 teams with the introduction of Gold Coast and Western Sydney I was wondering what will then happen with the draw.

As it stands now with 16 teams it's all over the shop and definately not equal, it was meant to equalise out over a few years but I'm fairly sure that doesn't happen any more.

When there are 18 teams, each team plays each other once, that makes 17 rounds with 5 rounds left hanging.

Will those 5 rounds be fixtured over 4 to 5 years to even it out? I doubt it. You'd think those 5 rounds would be used to maximum effect re. attendances and tv ratings.

This is how my idea works:

Each team plays each other once, that's 17 rounds.

After round 17 the league then splits in two, the top 8 teams and the bottom 10 teams. All premiership points and percentages are reset to zero.

The top 8 teams would then play 4 rounds. The top 4 of those 8 playing the bottom 4 once each. Each club would have 2 home and 2 away games. These games would be to decide the starting positions for the finals. After the 4 rounds all teams would have a week off to prepare for the finals, the finals would operate as the top 8 does now. Equals 21 rounds, a bye and then a 4 week finals series.

week 1 - 1v8 2v7 3v6 4v5
week 2 - 1v7 2v6 3v5 4v8
week 3 - 1v6 2v5 3v8 4v7
week 4 - 1v5 2v8 3v7 4v6
-bye-
-finals-

The bottom 10 teams would play 5 rounds. The top 5 of those 10 would play the bottom 5 once each. The top 5 would play 3 home games and 2 away. These 5 rounds would decided the top 10 draft picks. ie the team finishing on top after these 5 rounds would get the number one draft pick and so on down to the team finishing last getting pick 10.
Equals 22 rounds.

week 1 - 9v18 10v17 11v16 12v15 13v14
week 2 - 9v17 10v16 11v15 12v14 13v18
week 3 - 9v16 10v15 11v14 12v18 13v17
week 4 - 9v15 10v14 11v18 12v17 13v16
week 5 - 9v14 10v18 11v17 12v16 13v15
-end of season-

Teams finishing in the top 8 after the first 17 rounds would play 10 or 11 home games per season excluding finals.

Teams finishing 9th to 13th would play 11 or 12 home games and teams finishing 14th to 18th would play 10 or 11 home games.

After the first round of draft picks the order would then revert to what the ladder order was after the first 17 rounds.

ie A team that finished 11th after the first 17 rounds and then finished 4th in the bottom 10 draft pick playoffs would have pick 4 and pick 26 and 44 and so on. The team who won the premiership would have picks 18, 36, 54 and so on.

Keep priority draft picks in its' current format or tinker with it a bit.

 

[FootyJunkie]

Interesting idea, but you'd be spewing if you were the club making a late season charge towards the premiership and get the door shut on you pre-maturely by being 9th at the end of Round 17, and you wouldn't have to be Richmond either

Vlad said they are keeping a Top 8....if you read that deeper, that means that they will keep the one unified ladder like we have now. Finals Systems get a slightly more involved when you include conferences yet Vlad didn't even mention conferences when he said that they will keep the Final 8.

Still think an 18 team comp will be temporary, 2 clubs to go in Melbourne sometime next decade.

 

[Herne Hill Hammer]

Interesting idea, but you'd be spewing if you were the club making a late season charge towards the premiership and get the door shut on you pre-maturely by being 9th at the end of Round 17, and you wouldn't have to be Richmond either

Vlad said they are keeping a Top 8....if you read that deeper, that means that they will keep the one unified ladder like we have now. Finals Systems get a slightly more involved when you include conferences yet Vlad didn't even mention conferences when he said that they will keep the Final 8.

Still think an 18 team comp will be temporary, 2 clubs to go in Melbourne sometime next decade.

That could then work 2 ways then, if you have a slow start to the year with injuries, poor form etc then come flying home with a wet sail you may sneak into the 8 and be able to improve your chances immeasureably over the 4 weeks. If you just miss out on the 8 and you're full of momentum then you can dominate for 5 weeks and get yourself the number 1 draft pick.

 

[mdavideedee_man64]

conference A conference B conference c conference D conference E
Carl Syd west coast adelaide Brisbane
Coll GWS fremantle port adelaide Gold Coast
Ess Canberra (New) Broome (new) alice springs (new) Cairns (new)
Geel Esperence (new) Rockhampton (new)
Haw
Melb
North Melb
Rich
StK
West Bulldogs

 

[Quokka]

Broome? Alice Springs? Esperance?


Any reason Marble Bar and Coober Pedy have been snubbed?

 

[mdavideedee_man64]

Broome? Alice Springs? Esperance?


Any reason Marble Bar and Coober Pedy have been snubbed?

never heard of em', except marble bar for their weather records of 40'C heat records

 

[Fire]

You bumped a 12 year old thread to suggest filling the AFL with country towns?

Have you ever been to any of these places?

 

[FootyJunkie]

We should have brought in divisions in 1995 when the comp expanded to 16.

1995

East: Bri, Syd, Mel, Rich
North: Car, Coll, Ess, NM
South: Adel, Geel, Haw, StK
West: WC, Fre, Fitz, Foots

1997

East: Bri, Syd, Mel, Rich
North: Car, Coll, Ess, NM
South: Adel, Port, Haw, StK
West: WC, Fre, Geel, Foots

2011

East: Bri, Syd, Mel, Rich, GC
North: Car, Coll, Ess, NM
South: Adel, Port, Haw, StK
West: WC, Fre, Geel, Foots

2011

East: Bri, Syd, Mel, Rich, GC, GWS
Central: Car, Coll, Ess, NM, Haw, StK
SouthWest: Adel, Port, WC, Fre, Geel, Foots

 

[The Nostradamus]

Raised all the way back in 08 and might be the only way we get a season in this year if we can’t play 17 games

 

[RUNVS]

Raised all the way back in 08 and might be the only way we get a season in this year if we can’t play 17 games

It is a possibility but would be last resort.

9 teams in each conference, top 4 teams from each conference go into the finals. Means we could have a 12 week season.

 

[The Nostradamus]

It is a possibility but would be last resort.

9 teams in each conference, top 4 teams from each conference go into the finals. Means we could have a 12 week season.

Yep a plan b if we can’t start earlier than say august then the above 12 game season would work

 

[Pottering]

Hybrid conference system;

All 18 clubs play in the one conference for 22 home and away matches, then the top 8 teams form a "finals" conference for a 4 week end of season comp.

This concept should please most people. Traditionalists won't notice the difference and the AFL can fool themsleves into thinking they've adopted another idea from US sports (allowing them to tick off one of their major performance indicators).

 

[RUNVS]

Hybrid conference system;

All 18 clubs play in the one conference for 22 home and away matches, then the top 8 teams form a "finals" conference for a 4 week end od season comp.

This concept should please most people. Traditionalists won't notice the difference and the AFL can fool themsleves into thinking they've adopted another idea from US sports (allowing them to tick off one of their major performance indicators).

Read what we are talking about. We are not talking about long term, we are talking and 2020 and 2020 alone, and only because of the Coronavirus. The conference system could be a way to get a season in if we can't start until nearing October.

 

[eastfreo75]

Thats fair enough, but it IS a victorian game, and we all have to make sacrifice somewhere.....
Nah i get it, i guess since playing Geelong at the G i've realised how much better the atmosphere can be when there is a crowd so big.
Just an idea

Is golf a Scottish game ?

 

[dustysnecktattoo]

I'm going to china if conferences happen in afl

 

[footyfan1978]

We should have brought in divisions in 1995 when the comp expanded to 16.

True, I remember back then I even sent something to the AFL suggesting how to do it.
Got back mail from Ian Collins whom was the operations manager or something back then.
Basically I suggested the 16 teams split into two ladders with the teams on same ladder playing each other twice for 14 games and the other 8 games would be one game against each side from other group to still have 22 games in total. Each group ladder would have top 4 go through to the final 8 series.
Top team from one ladder plays second from other ladder in one Qualifying Final and top team from other ladder play the other groups second spot team. etc etc.

Remembering back then when I sent it we did not have the current final 8 seires.
Back then it was 1 v 8, 2 v 7, 3 v 6, 4 v 5 in first week. So in first version of final 8 only teams 1st and 2nd on ladder were safe from elimination in week one.
What I proposed at time had four teams safe from elimination in week one of finals which was top two teams from both ladder groups.
The AFL second version of final 8 now has four teams safe from elimination in week one so the two ladders.

Once we then went to 18 teams the whole two groups with two ladders of 8 teams is no longer a nice neat thing it would have been in mid to late 90's.

 

[footyfan1978]

I'm going to china if conferences happen in afl

You ain't going anywhere. No flights for you.

 

[footyfan1978]

It is a possibility but would be last resort.

9 teams in each conference, top 4 teams from each conference go into the finals. Means we could have a 12 week season.

How is it 12 week season when to play each other once in each conference would take nine rounds to complete and then four weekends of finals? That is 13 if proposing one game a week each club.
9 teams in each conference does not work if only playing teams from own conference as then you have one team not playing a game each weekend from both conferences. Makes no sense when more games is what we need in 2020.

Would make more sense if we only had 13 game season as then no byes and each weekend one match has teams from both conferences meeting each other rather than having a bye. 9 rounds for the minor season and 4 weeks for a finals series involving 8 teams.

 

[Taylor]

Shorter games and five days breaks gets them in

 

[footyfan1978]

Not sure a 13 game season going to cut it to award a premiership in 2020.
Rather have a 34 round home and away season that starts later this year for a 2020-21 premiership season than bother with a lightning premiership type season.
15 games previously is lowest games in a season to award a premiership, which happened in 1916 when four teams played each other four times in home and away season and then Fitzoy won 3 finals to take premiership for total of 15 games. Any less games than that, no premiership should be awarded.
13 games is too small and more like a toy premiership if so many teams involved not even played each other once.

 

[dustysnecktattoo]

You ain't going anywhere. No flights for you.

I don't like flying anyway, haven't since 2005