NEW FINALS SYSTEM! good or bad?

[kwiksilvar]

leave ur thoughts on the enw finals system!!
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I think its really good, better then last years.

 

[Bomber]

terrible - better for disinterested fans, but terrible for teams in the top spots. There was nothing wrong with last seasons top 8.

 

[Guest]

At least every game means something, better than last year.

 

[GoEagles]

I think it's better then previous years - the teams finishing 5th-8th must win every game and dont get second chances. The teams 1st-4th get at least a birth in the semis. I dont think Adelaide would of won a GF, let alone advance to the semi's if this new finals system was in place.

 

[Daniel]

The line of thinking on what Adelaide would have done under a different finals system irks me, because it's bull****.

Think about it: Adelaide lost their first game in the '98 finals, and now people say 'oh, they should have been eliminated and it would have happened under the new system'. Beep, wrong answer.

Adelaide finished 5th in '98 and had to play away against the 4th team, Melbourne, which would not have happened this year. This year, it would have been easier despite the knockout aspect because we would have started with a home final against the 8th team, which is a huge difference. After that it's virtually the same, with difficult away finals from the semifinals onwards, which Adelaide were good enough to win.

In '97, we finished fourth and won the first final, going on to play the 2nd team in a second home final. Adelaide would have been *helped* if the current system was in place that year as we *might* have won through directly to a preliminary by beating the top team in the first week (unlikely, but possible). Assuming that would not have happened, Adelaide would still have been better off under the current system as we would have played a home final against a team ranked 5-8, rather than the difficult assignment against 2nd-placed Geelong.

So don't think Adelaide would have struggled under the present system, which should be immaterial anyway because we were the best under the existing rules. I just thought I should clear up that misconception.

 

[WCE2000]

There was nothing wrong with last years finals series. Everybody said it was terrible and it screwed up West Coast. The finals series itself didn't screw up West Coast, it wast that stupid agreement were the AFL must play 1 match per week at the MCG.
Last years finals series was better than this year, because in this years, Essendon, Carlton, Melbourne and Kangaroos all get exactly the same advantage. As in they can't get eliminated in week 1.
If it was under Last Year's system, Essendon and Carlton would only have that luxury. While Melbourne and the Kangaroos, would have known it was unlikely to that they would get eliminated, but there was still a possibility they could get knocked out.
I think the beauty of the old series is the fact that no side knows who they will play in Week 2 until all of week 1 is finished.
The biggest problem with the old system is the complications with it. It is very complex and a lot of fans had no idea wether there team was out or if they were going to play in week 2/week 3, stuff like that.
The weird thing is the NRL have adopted the old AFL finals series, and the AFL have adopted the old NRL final series (they used it from 1995-1997).

Overall, i find the NRL Finals better, because despite is complications, it is fairer to the teams finishing higher. Sure it is complicated, but to have the fairest finals system, you might have to give up the luxury of a simple and easy to follow finals series.

But in the end, i still think it is redicolous that 8 teams make the finals in a 16 team competition. I think the amount of teams should be reduced to 6 in the finals, but the AFL will never do that, because there a lot of money gone.
Just 2 years ago, in the Sydney Grade Cricket competition there are 20 teams, with only 4 teams competing in the finals. They have now moved up to 6.

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[Guest]

WCE2000, I am loathed to argue the benefits of finals systems in this competition (I would prefer a 2 conference system)........back to the point, both systems have serious flaws.
As you pointed out the agreement with the MCC to play one game every week is unbelievable.

If you think that 8 teams qualifying in a 16 team competition is ridiculous then how mind numbingly stupid is it that in the NRL 8 out of 14 make it.

 

[dons_r_tops]

I'm happy with whatever system is put in place as long as we win the flag this year