Has an AFL decision/policy ever cost your club a potential flag?

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Sep 16, 2006
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West Coast
If it weren't for the pre finals bye introduced in 2016 the dogs would have had consecutive Perth trips (last round vs Freo, EF vs Eagles) with a number of their big name players not making the team, the bye was the only reason they played. They would have petered out against us in that final, Hawks would have rolled us in the SF, Hawks would have rolled GWS in the PF (due to overall finals experience of the threepeat hawks) and would have been a chance to roll the swans, 4peating.
 

north_lad

Club Legend
Oct 26, 2003
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North Melbourne
The ‘Non Mark’ of Leigh Colbert & AFL decision to play the Crows at Footy Park cost us a legitimate chance at the 1997 flag....Finish second ( and above the aforementioned team ) yet you play them at home just because you lost your first final, the rules back then were a joke.....We had beaten the Saints that year too from memory so it was a chance for sure.

Extremely stiff that year, finishing 2nd and having to play us with Carey back and in form
 
Sep 16, 2006
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West Coast
Essendon fans: West Coast 'hosting' a SF vs Carlton @ MCG in 1999 cost your team a chance at the flag. Either you'd have played an eagles team you had the wood over in the PF, or a Carlton side returning from Perth. Instead you played a Carlton who played in Melbourne the week before (beating us), not raising a sweat and being mostly refreshed in a game that you lost by less than a goal. The bullshit MCG rule cost Vic teams as well.
 

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Nov 8, 2000
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South of the river
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Fremantle
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The ‘Non Mark’ of Leigh Colbert & AFL decision to play the Crows at Footy Park cost us a legitimate chance at the 1997 flag....Finish second ( and above the aforementioned team ) yet you play them at home just because you lost your first final, the rules back then were a joke.....We had beaten the Saints that year too from memory so it was a chance for sure.

To be fair, it's not like it was an arbitrary decision by the AFL to schedule the game there, it was just the nature of the (rubbish) system. North (7th) who beat Geelong in the first final, got a home final against West Coast who finished 5th (and lost to Adelaide). West Coast had as much of a claim to a home final as Geelong had, but how ridiculous would it have been if they got one after losing to Adelaide, and Adelaide having to travel after winning?

As terrible as that final 8 system was, it was entirely fair that the Crows and North got home finals that week.
 

Catsnlakers

Even Hank Moody is in awe of Geelong!
Oct 2, 2016
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Extremely stiff that year, finishing 2nd and having to play us with Carey back and in form
Yes that first final in 97’ was something to behold, he just tore us apart that night....We played in a few finals back then....That year was obviously just fated to be for Adelaide considering what happened with our final & the Colbert incident, & also the Prelim with the Libba ‘Non goal’.
 

Catsnlakers

Even Hank Moody is in awe of Geelong!
Oct 2, 2016
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To be fair, it's not like it was an arbitrary decision by the AFL to schedule the game there, it was just the nature of the (rubbish) system. North (7th) who beat Geelong in the first final, got a home final against West Coast who finished 5th (and lost to Adelaide). West Coast had as much of a claim to a home final as Geelong had, but how ridiculous would it have been if they got one after losing to Adelaide, and Adelaide having to travel after winning?

As terrible as that final 8 system was, it was entirely fair that the Crows and North got home finals that week.
Yep, fair to say it’s for the best that system got scrapped....Being a Freo fan I have another one that would guarantee a flag for you or I.....The suspension to Chapman for the 2013 PF, if he plays we quite well would of won, which means it would of been a Dockers vs Cats GF. 😞
 
Nov 8, 2000
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Another 'what if' from that season: Had we beaten you in that last round derby (two goal margin iirc and we led most of the game) we'd have finished 4th. We were Port's bunnies at the time (and for several years after), Port would have rolled us easily and likely won the flag that year hosting a PF and then playing Collingwood in the GF. Instead they got a plucky Swans side who rolled them first week.

Underrated game, still the best derby ever I reckon. Probably the most tension i've ever felt at a regular season game.

But Port in week 1 would have been everyone's dream matchup at that time, they had enormous pressure on them after bombing out in straight sets the previous year and the whispers of finals chokers were pretty loud. That's not to say any team could have won over there, but whoever their opponent was had nothing to lose.
 
Nov 8, 2000
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Yep, fair to say it’s for the best that system got scrapped....Being a Freo fan I have another one that would guarantee a flag for you or I.....The suspension to Chapman for the 2013 PF, if he plays we quite well would of won, which means it would of been a Dockers vs Cats GF. 😞

I'll go with Varcoe missing that shot on the run with seconds to go in that game which would have sent the game into extra time. Another half a quarter of bruising footy wouldn't have done us any harm at all the following week.
 

emuboy

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Dec 17, 2006
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2017 was fairly standard. QF winners beat QF losers in the prelims to meet in the grand final. A few mild upsets.

I disagree on two reasons. One, a team that looked nowhere near a finals side that season (West Coast Eagles) fluked 8th spot and beat Port Adelaide (which was in the Top 8 all season) in at Elimination Final extra time. Two, all other finals were one sided affairs, with wild fluctuations in form from week to week, like Geelong, GWS and the Sydney Swans, while the minor premiers the Crows completely capitulated in the Grand Final after being in red hot form in the finals before that.
 

Catsnlakers

Even Hank Moody is in awe of Geelong!
Oct 2, 2016
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I'll go with Varcoe missing that shot on the run with seconds to go in that game which would have sent the game into extra time. Another half a quarter of bruising footy wouldn't have done us any harm at all the following week.
Of course, but I just tried to stick with the thread topic..... But yes that miss certainly cost us, just as the Smith miss quite possibly cost the Hawks a 4-peat 3 years later.
 
Sep 13, 2015
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I disagree on two reasons. One, a team that looked nowhere near a finals side that season (West Coast Eagles) fluked 8th spot and beat Port Adelaide (which was in the Top 8 all season) in at Elimination Final extra time. Two, all other finals were one sided affairs, with wild fluctuations in form from week to week, like Geelong, GWS and the Sydney Swans, while the minor premiers the Crows completely capitulated in the Grand Final after being in red hot form in the finals before that.
That’s just random fluctuation. Were any of the results from 2017 affected by the bye?
 

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Stk4Lyfe

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Feb 11, 2021
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St Kilda
If the overtime system had been introduced earlier or the ball had bounced the right way in 2010 we would most likely have won. Same in '09 but the instead goal review to check whether or not the ball had hit the post.
 

emuboy

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That’s just random fluctuation. Were any of the results from 2017 affected by the bye?

The Port Adelaide and West Coast elimination final for sure. And if it had been just Geelong having wild form fluctuations from week to week this is one thing, but GWS, Adelaide, Sydney and West Coast as well? You could just put 2017 down as a strange finals series if not for:

2016 - Bulldogs win GF from 7th, neither of the QF final winners make GF, experienced Hawthorn crash out of finals in straight sets.
2018 - Richmond are dominant minor premiers, 3 games clear on top of the ladder and comfortably win QF but Collingwood (unimpressive against GWS the week before) easily beat the Tigers in the PF to enter GF.
2019 - GWS enter finals in poor form, Bulldogs enter in top form. GWS thrash Bulldogs in EF, and progress all the way through to GF where they are slaughtered by Richmond, with neither of the Top 2 making the GF.
2020 - For second successive season, neither of the Top 2 make the GF, this time after both win their Qualifying Finals.

Not since 2016 (Sydney) has the minor premier made the GF. and even then the Swans lost the QF and ultimately the GF.
 

Topkent

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Aug 29, 2010
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Probably not but closest would be 98
Stupid McIntyre system, we finish 4th, pump Adelaide in the first game, smash Stkilda in the second and then get rewarded by playing 1st place North in the prelim
Meanwhile the team we beat Adelaide, win their semi and get 2nd placed Bulldogs in the prelim.
 
May 3, 2007
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Probably not but closest would be 98
Stupid McIntyre system, we finish 4th, pump Adelaide in the first game, smash Stkilda in the second and then get rewarded by playing 1st place North in the prelim
Meanwhile the team we beat Adelaide, win their semi and get 2nd placed Bulldogs in the prelim.
Would of been interesting had Demon's won that 98 prelim vs North.
 
Nov 26, 2012
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Brisbane Lions
But you won the bloody PF!

You lost the 04 GF because the lions' time was up
We did win but coped extra injuries (not the AFLs fault for those) but extra travel didnt let them recover. Port I think got the extra days rest as well as the home prelim. We Came into the GF pretty battered (ontop of being old) and got well beaten. Its not the total story but having a home game, and extra rest could have made difference
 
Sep 16, 2006
35,838
35,415
AFL Club
West Coast
Underrated game, still the best derby ever I reckon. Probably the most tension i've ever felt at a regular season game.
Despite it being an Eagles home game I will never forget how loud the 'freeeeoooooooo' chant was with a minute left, the game was over.
But Port in week 1 would have been everyone's dream matchup at that time, they had enormous pressure on them after bombing out in straight sets the previous year and the whispers of finals chokers were pretty loud. That's not to say any team could have won over there, but whoever their opponent was had nothing to lose.
IIRC Port beat us by ten goals both times we played that season, and considering the crows flogged us in an EF that year at AAMI, I very much doubt we'd have won it. It would have been one of the all time upsets.
 
May 5, 2006
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AFL Club
West Coast
+1 for the 2005 GF.

Barry Hall had 10 marks and kicked 2 in a low scoring game. No guarantee the result changes if he doesn't play (he played the following year and we won), but having the AA FF available after he punches someone "in play" 100m off the ball was clear AFL meddling because it was Sydney, GF week or both.

Ashley Sampi was blatantly held by Tadgh Kennelly when Leo Barry took his famous mark, but that's one decision in a game that goes for a couple of hours in amongst a pack of 7 players. Frustrating seeing it on a slow mo replay hours after the game but you can't blame a loss on that. We probably would've just gone from 7.12 to 7.13 with another shot from 40m anyway.

We were stiffed by the 80s/90s finals rules but 1996 was the only year I think we were a chance. 4th beats 5th, 3rd beats 6th, 6th hosts 4th. Super.

1993 we finished 6th, beat 3rd then travelled to play 1st. You can't really argue that's unfair on Essendon who were top. 1995 we finished 5th and lost then travelled to play 6th who won. Really we should've hosted North then, but Carlton were 4 games clear on top and always going to win the flag. 1997 another away final against a lower ranked winner. 1999 away to the lower ranked loser again. But we weren't winning the flag from 12-10 107%. Zero consistency with ranked winners and MCG quotas in place.

The AFL's 2020 fixturing policy certainly didn't help us, but we didn't help ourselves either. Everyone rants about how poor we were away from home (actually no worse than most years) but we lost one day game all year, to Port at Metricon. 8-1 in games starting 1.35-4.10pm, 4-5 in games 6.10pm or later. Night semis, night prelims, night GF. We were no chance. Day games at home are where we feast. We've become very one dimensional since 2018.
 

Tackle Bag

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Dec 5, 2017
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Richmond
As a couple of others have said, the AFL stepping in with a sizeable Ambassador payment to convince Tony Lockett to go to Sydney instead of honouring his agreement to switch to Richmond back in 1994. This was unheard of back then and the AFL didn’t acknowledge the deal publicly for many years afterwards as they knew it had a smell about it.
 

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