Forget Eddie, the league need to listen to me. NAB Cup, through to the Grand Final (including current byes and weeks between the NAB and H&A season) is 32 weeks. Using these 32 weeks, my season would be as followed.
Week 1-2: NAB Cup. Keep the preseason competition, not that it means anything. It would just give teams an opportunity to start implementing structures and seek out their best 22 for round 1.
Week 3: Week off to prepare for round 1.
Week 4-23: Every team plays each other once with the aiming of trying to qualify for the top 6. This means 17 rounds of football, plus after 8 games, so week 12, we have a bye. Week 13 is an All-Star Weekend at the MCG, live music during the day, face painting and clinics for the kids etc, representation from every club with merchandise/membership tents/player signatures etc. Kind of what the Australian Open offers and what the league did on 2015 GF day but on a grander scale. The main attraction of the weekend could be a State of Origin or some sort of showcase game. It would be an opportunity to have maybe a full day of football starting off early and going until late like a normal 7:45 game. Could be a Women's rep game followed by a Vic Metro vs Vic Country game, followed by the VFL Grand Final replay, followed by an Origin clash or something. 4 games of football exposing fans to all levels, ages and genders that they might not usually get to see. There's lots of opportunities for something in that spot. Then week 14 would be another bye, and week 15 would commence the next 9 games.
Week 24-28: This is when the competition heats up. In my utopian season, the ladder would now become irrelevant. You've either qualified for the top, middle or bottom 6.
Teams 1-6 are locked in for finals. Their next 5 games will come against the other 5 teams that make up the top 6. Regardless of the ladder from the first 17 games, the 6th place side is just as much chance for a home qualifying final as the first place side. On the off chance the 6th side has a W/L ratio of 5-0 from their 5, they'll finish 1st. The first 17 games are purely to qualify, once qualified it's anyone's race right up until the end of round 23.
Teams 7-12 will play their final 5 games against each other also. Their prize will be the remaining two spots in the finals.
Teams 13-18 will play off for the first pick in a lottery, not the first pick itself. The team with the best W/L record picks first, second best picks second, so on and so forth. This eliminates teams not doing everything in their power to win, because there's no reward for doing so.
So for example, the ladder on the left is after 17 games is where teams qualify and dictates what their next 5 games will mean. The ladder then gets dismantled, teams play their 5 game series and then the ladder gets reconfigured with the new standings, as seen on the right.
After 17 Games………..
W/L record after the final 5
Hawks 16-1……..………...Eagles 5-0 (Home QF)
Dockers 15-2…..………...Hawks 4-1 (Home QF)
Swans 13-4……..………...Pies 3-2 (Away QF)
Eagles 11-6………………...Swans 2-3 (Away QF)
Crows 10-7………………….Dockers 1-4 (Home EF)
Pies 10-7……………………..Crows 0-5 (Home EF)
Tigers 9-8…………………...North 5-0 (Away EF)
Cats 9-8……………………….Tigers 4-1 (Away EF)
Dogs 9-8……………………..Cats 3-2 (9th/Draft Pick #10)
North 8-9…………………….Giants 2-3 (10th/Draft Pick #9)
Power 8-9…………………...Dogs 1-4 (11th/Draft Pick #8)
Giants 8-9…………………...Power 0-5 (12th/Draft Pick #7)
Saints 7-10………………….Saints 5-0 (13th/1st lottery pick)
Suns 7-10…………………...Demons 4-1 (14th/2nd LP)
Demons 6-11……………….Lions 3-2 (15th/3rd LP)
Bombers 4-13……………..Suns 2-3 (16th/4th LP)
Lions 2-15…………………...Bombers 1-4 (17th/5th LP)
Blues 1-16…………………..Blues 0-5 (18th/6th LP)
Draft pick order for picks 1-6 would be determined through a lottery, so despite Carlton having the 6th lottery pick, they still may end up with pick 1. Picks 7-10 are for the sides who finished 9th-12th, then picks 11-18 will be determined after the finals.
Week 29-32: Finals played in the exact same format as they currently are. Week 29- 2xQF, 2xEF, Week 30- 2xSF, Week 31- 2xPF, Week 32- 1xGF.
Over a two year period, the first 17 games will see each team will play each other twice, once at home and once away.
My format gives the players two byes, engages the fans with an AFL style carnival mid season, balances out fixturing, doesn't mess with the current finals format, eliminates the idea of tanking because there is literally zero reward for not fielding your best available side and trying to win, and gives every team incentive to perform right up until the conclusion of round 23. Teams that under the current system would be 'mathematically' out of contention for a home final, or any finals at all are well and truly in the hunt. Supporters would just need to adapt and understand that the first 17 games are purely for qualifying and are meaningless in the last 5 games. In the above example of the ladder, Hawthorn have actually won 20 and lost 2, whereas West Coast have won 16 and lost 6. The idea is though, that if West Coast have performed well enough to qualifying for the top 6, then they have just as much chance of home final as every one else, even if under the current system they find themselves 5 games off top spot.
Anywho, it'll never come to fruition, but since Eddie is seeking revolution, I thought I'd share my grand plan
