Eddy's grand idea

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doppleganger

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#28
He said winner of a nab cup gets a wildcard to the finals, without going into detail.

He also suggested that finals involve 12 teams split into two conferences, again without providing detail.

So I would presume two final six and a wildcard potentially bumps an 11th or 12th team from the finals.

That is a pretty good warranty for a mid table team, and young teams to go hard in a pre-season cup...but a premiership team like Hawthorn probably still wouldn't bother amd be knocked out straight up

If you are a good team, you will aim to finish higher anyway...so this win nab cup and then tank to get a finals wildcard of 12th won't happen.

Needs more detail, but not the most ridiculous thought thrown out re the 'fixture'.
 

TradeDraft

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#29
He said winner of a nab cup gets a wildcard to the finals, without going into detail.

He also suggested that finals involve 12 teams split into two conferences, again without providing detail.

So I would presume two final six and a wildcard potentially bumps an 11th or 12th team from the finals.

That is a pretty good warranty for a mid table team, and young teams to go hard in a pre-season cup...but a premiership team like Hawthorn probably still wouldn't bother amd be knocked out straight up

If you are a good team, you will aim to finish higher anyway...so this win nab cup and then tank to get a finals wildcard of 12th won't happen.

Needs more detail, but not the most ridiculous thought thrown out re the 'fixture'.
Do we really want to Americanise the AFL?
 

doppleganger

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#31
Do we really want to Americanise the AFL?
If by 'Americanise' you mean have an equitable season fixture with integrity, then yep.

If by 'Americanise' you mean expand finals participants to increase the number of teams that hold hope of making finals and ensure continued interest in regular season games for as long as possible, then yep.
 

DIDAIC0S

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#32
Ed sure is trying to play "Press your luck"


21 teams play each other once and a bye. Final 8 remains

Lottery system with weighted lots for the first draft pick for bottom teams.

Either that or break into conferences of 6 (with some teams relocating as necessary) and you always play the 5 teams in your conference twice.


Sent from my Millennium Falcon using Tapatalk
 

jjsmitty8

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#33
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 :)
 
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good4footy

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#39
Must be the only one that thinks something like this (probably not the NAB part) has merit. The current system is very flawed but people are so resistant to change that any failings of anything new are focused on to allow for the comfort of status quo.

In my opinion something like what Ed has suggested is the way to go and when we do we will look at the current system and say 'what the hell were we thinking'. The current process is terrible and needs to be addressed.
 

Saintly Viewed

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#40
Must be the only one that thinks something like this (probably not the NAB part) has merit. The current system is very flawed but people are so resistant to change that any failings of anything new are focused on to allow for the comfort of status quo.

In my opinion something like what Ed has suggested is the way to go and when we do we will look at the current system and say 'what the hell were we thinking'. The current process is terrible and needs to be addressed.
The current system is only flawed because the draw is not balanced in a rule of fairness.
That means every team should play each other once, 17 games
The other 5 then should get either rotated through or determined via ladder position (from previous year)
To contrive the draw as done now seems unfair.
What eddy purposes is contrivance on contrivance.

As an aside the best finals system was the final 5.
Top team had the real advantage
2nd and 3rd next best advantage
4th and 5th the hardest run.
 

Obese Arachnid

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#41
Ed is still apart of the AFL's boys club.

Obviously old boy Gillon said, "Say something ridiculous ED so we can get this nasty Essendon "supplement" saga out of the limelight."
 

Baltimore Jack

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#42
Sometimes stories are "manufactured" so as to create a diversion
Ed knows that as a Journalist and he is a Club President within the inner circle.
He has combined the two for a reason....I wonder what that reason might be?
 

loki04

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#43
12 teams into a "finals" series is too many.

One could argue teams in 6-8 are cannon fodder most years.

Bottom 6 playing off for draft order could work and I actually like the idea of it, quite often the bottom 6 teams are all capable of beating other bottom 6 teams.

Nab win for finals wild card is just idiotic, besides that more years then not 1 of the 2 competing Nab GF sides make top 4 anyway.
 

Stoods

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#44
Pleae just leave it how it is. Whilst i am a fan of the NFL, lets not Americanise OUR game, keep it unique. If it isn't broken don't fix it
 

doppleganger

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#47
Yeah but basically every sport has them, they are systems you have to have. You dont have to change the fixture into conferences or groups or what not.
Implementing groups is the best way to get an equitable fixture when you have massive travel inequities and too many teams that will allow a full home and away schedule.

It isn't Americanising, it is simply re-introducing integrity and equity to the schedule.
 

MarkT2

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#48
Compromises to appease compromises are not the answer even if every part of the idea (except playing 17 different teams in the first 17 weeks) wasn't silly. We either want a fair draw or we don't. If we don't then who cares how it pans out. If we do then it has to be random or rolling with home games alternating.
 
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#49
What about relegation we create two divisions and introduce relegation, bottom two teams go down and two teams come up.

Introduce two leagues of 12 teams, have no pre-season and have a 24 round fixture and bring back the final five. No finals for the second division it works as a true league system.
 

MarkT2

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#50
What about relegation we create two divisions and introduce relegation, bottom two teams go down and two teams come up.

Introduce two leagues of 12 teams, have no pre-season and have a 24 round fixture and bring back the final five. No finals for the second division it works as a true league system.
I think there is a fundamental problem with relegation in our market and in particular with the tight player controls in the AFL. Basically Melbourne get relegated and they lose all their half decent players to division 1 teams and go broke and belly up within 2 years in division 2. Then it's North, then the AFL have to funnel $7m into Brisbane....

If A team survives relegation and gets promoted back to division 1, how do they re stock a playing list?
How does the draft work? does the best kid in Australia have to play division 2? How long before that goes to court?

The EPL have a huge number of teams and an international player pool, no salary cap and no limits of recruitment apart from legal contract commitments. we have a small pool of players, a salary cap, a reverse ladder draft and 4,000km wide continent.
 
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