Round 22 fixture reshuffle

[favourites]

If Collingwood beat Sydney and Richmond, and the dogs lose to one of bris or geel.

Rnd 22. Out Didak Pendlebury Davis and co.

 

[Hawkers]

The AFL should have 'floating' plans in place for Rd22 and only schedule it 3 to 4 weeks out. Or just play it all on the Fri night and saturday, which would be even simpler.

I like this idea but I reckon a 'Super Saturday' would be a goer.
The problem with both ideas is that the TV networks would never go for it

I think another good solution is to have a weeks break between the final round and the first round of finals

No teams could have an excuse of not a long enough break then

 

[mcgarnacle]

i said it in the other thread on this that was floating around a couple of weeks back............the AFL should schedule the final round of each regular season on friday and saturdays and leave sunday free so there are no restrictions on the scheduling of the 1st week of finals. it should be a clause in the next broadcast deal.

ideally, all matches in the last round should be played at the same time so match results arent manipulated for ladder positions, but the lack of available grounds doesnt allow that.

 

[damochandler]

i see why the saints game would be on the sunday. they wil get their first final on the sunday following week. they should have the last round as a non set in stone round every year. that would make alot more sense and they wouldnt have to worry about this every year

 

[tandino]

Six day breaks are pretty normal coming into finals.

• St Kilda had to play the twilight game in Round 22 last year, and they would have only had a 6 day break if they didn't smash Essendon.
• Sydney and Hawthorn played the Sunday of 2007, and played the following Saturday.
• Essendon had to play the twilight game in 2007 (in Perth, mind you) and if they made finals (keep in mind, they were in contention this far out) they would have had to come back to Melbourne and play with a 6 day break.
• Sydney had to play on Sunday in 2006, and had to go over to Subi and play West Coast on the Saturday.
• Geelong and Melbourne had to play on Sunday in 2005, and played the following Saturday
• Essendon had to play on Sunday in 2004, and played the following Saturday

I really can't see the problem in having Collingwood play the Western Bulldogs on the Sunday. One of those teams will play St Kilda on the Sunday of the first week of finals, and the other can play Geelong on the Saturday/Saturday Night. Replace the Bulldogs with Carlton/Adelaide/Brisbane and it doesn't make a difference. Melbourne isn't playing finals this year, so every other team will get a 6 day break or better.

If anyone of Collingwood of the Bulldogs are complaining about a six day break, they need a good dose of HTFU

 

[Tortilla]

If anyone of Collingwood of the Bulldogs are complaining about a six day break, they need a good dose of HTFU

The problem is not week 1 of the finals.

The problem is in week 2, because ideally the AFL would like to give the highest losing finalist a longer break than the winning elimination finalists.

 

[WALL-e]

Change next years, too late now, you'd screw over hundreds with flights, accom booked.

 

[lions_den]

Hope its pies vs cats sat night at the G!

It won't be. Brisbane will get the Saturday night final, that I am sure of. You will almost certainly get the Friday night game.

 

[favourites]

They wont give us a 5 day break to make the tv company happy. It will be a saturday game at the very least.

 

[The Fact]

I reckon HTFU you had 5 day breaks during the year and still have won those games so stop bit*hing and i'm sure u will both be fine.

 

[BenF]

I reckon HTFU you had 5 day breaks during the year and still have won those games so stop bit*hing and i'm sure u will both be fine.

I'm pretty sure we didn't

 

[favourites]

Haha its got nothing to do with HTFU it's to do with gaining a benefit over the 5th-8th teams which we deserve for finishing top 4.

If the dogs finish 5th for instance and play essendon on saturday. What is the benefit of finishing 5th?

 

[Giants FC]

Fixturing is crap......

They should do the draw at the start of the year and then only finalise the actual day and time about 4 weeks out. That way they can ensure that the big games, i.e. the games between top 8 sides for ladder position are televised in an appropraite time slot and attract the most interest.

Each team would know who they're playing each round, and where, but not the time slot until a month beforehand. That way when they get towards the end of the season, we're not left with irrelevant games like Richmand Vs WCE on Friday night footy.

That's what the NRL does - and ask any of the NRL people on here what they think of it, and they will all tell you it's a disaster.

AFL fans can, with certainty, book flights and accommodation for interstate trips. We can give family and friends who want to have a wedding, party, funeral, function, family reunion or event where our presence is required a list of quarantined dates when not to have the event. Anyone who works on weekends can organise their shifts knowing with certainty when the games are. NRL supporters can't do that.
And because of that, we can buy memberships to our clubs, knowing with certainty that we will be available to attend the games. NRL supporters can't do that.
It's a significant factor in why our crowds are better than theirs. And although we get the occasional dud prime-time TV game, that is more than offset by increased crowds.

 

[favourites]

Yeah it is only needed for round 22.

 

[tandino]

Haha its got nothing to do with HTFU it's to do with gaining a benefit over the 5th-8th teams which we deserve for finishing top 4.

If the dogs finish 5th for instance and play essendon on saturday. What is the benefit of finishing 5th?

They get a home final. As they always have, as they always will. This has nothing to do with concocting a situation whereby 5th gets a better rest than 8th coming into the finals.

Oh yeah, the losing team in a Qualifying final only has a 50-50 chance of getting a benefit over the winning Elimination final teams in week 2. As the Elimination finals are on the Saturday traditionally, and 1v4 plays on a Sunday, the winner of 5v8 will always have a 1 day advantage over 1v4, no matter what day the Semi final falls on

Assuming the ladder stays the same, and the highest ranked team wins each matchup, with the break in days since their last match.

Week 1
Carlton (6) v Adelaide (6), Friday Night
Brisbane (7) v Port Adelaide (7), Saturday
Geelong (7) v Collingwood (6), Saturday Night
St Kilda (7) v Western Bulldogs (7), Sunday

Week 2
Collingwood (6) v Carlton (7), Friday Night
Western Bulldogs (6) v Brisbane (7), Saturday Night

Week 3
St Kilda (7+) v Collingwood (7), Friday Night
Geelong (7+) v Western Bulldogs (7), Saturday Night

Week 4
St Kilda (8) v Geelong (7), Saturday

Doesn't seem too unreasonable.

 

[FootyJunkie]

Week 1
Carlton (6) v Adelaide (6), Friday Night
Brisbane (7) v Port Adelaide (7), Saturday
Geelong (7) v Collingwood (6), Saturday Night
St Kilda (7) v Western Bulldogs (7), Sunday

.

Switch these around.

The AFL don't fixture day games in Queensland any more (unless they were forced to like in a Preliminary Final).

Also, the Lions playing on Saturday Night is more TV friendly for the Brisbane market.

 

[Bring-Back-Powell]

Why do the saints the undeafeated team play on sunday and get the most disadvantage going into the finals? Everyone is talking about the pies and dogs playin on sunday, how do u think the saints feel playin sunday?

Do you really think St Kilda are going to be at a dis-advantage by having 'only' a 7 day break after playing Melbourne?

 

[flamethrower]

The worry for the AFL will be if the ladder finishes like this....

1. St Kilda
2. Geelong
3. Collingwood
4. Brisbane Lions or Adelaide
5. Adelaide or Brisbane Lions
6. Carlton or Bulldogs
7. Bulldogs or Carlton
8. Port/Sydney/Hawthorn/Essendon/West Coast

That would mean 3 MCG finals in the first week, with the elimination final between Carlton and the Bulldogs on the Friday night.

 

[Tortilla]

That would mean 3 MCG finals in the first week, with the elimination final between Carlton and the Bulldogs on the Friday night.

When are people going to get it through their thick heads. If Round 22 does not change, than St Kilda, Collingwood and the Bulldogs can not play on the Friday night in the 1st week of the finals.

Based on your ladder, the 5 v 8 game would have to be the Friday night game, meaning the Bulldogs v Carlton game would have to be played at Etihad stadium on Saturday, or the AFL would have to go against what they have been saying and play St Kilda v Bris/Ade on the Saturday at Etihad.

 

[brucetiki]

I believe the AFL has already ruled out changes to the round 22 schedule

 

[doodlefeatures]

They might have to play a final at the Dome.
Game in Adelaide or Brisbane on Friday night
Dome Sat arvo
MCG Sat night
MCG Sunday

 

[amf87]

I know this will never happen in the AFL but i like what the English Premier League, and Victorian soccer leagues do on the last day of the season.. every game is at the same time. The EPL do not have finals but all 10 games are at the same time on the final round to make it fair. The league's broadcast rights are split between 2 networks, who still manage to show just about all of these games lives through extra channels (eg: Sky Sports 1,2 & 3). This makes it interesting and avoids teams from not trying if they already know the result of other games.
The Victorian soccer leagues final round of games is this Saturday all at 3. with about 4 teams vying for the final sports in the finals series, all knowing they must win to have a chance. Makes for exciting stuff IMO.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

They might have to play a final at the Dome.
Game in Adelaide or Brisbane on Friday night
Dome Sat arvo
MCG Sat night
MCG Sunday

Yeah but I cant see how thats a problem. Not perfect for the AFL or the TV stations but when the top side is guaranteed a Sunday game, because that means that a team finishing 7th or 8th is always going to get a Friday or Saturday night game.

Brisbane/ Adelaide game Friday night v 7th or 8th
Bulldogs at Etihad Sat arvo v 7th or 8th
Coll V Geel Sat night
St Kilda v 4th Sunday arvo

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

I know this will never happen in the AFL but i like what the English Premier League, and Victorian soccer leagues do on the last day of the season.. every game is at the same time.

EPL is completely different. If you know that you only need a draw to win the Premiership, your tactics will be totally different to if you need a win.

 

[krusden]

Yeah but I cant see how thats a problem. Not perfect for the AFL or the TV stations but when the top side is guaranteed a Sunday game, because that means that a team finishing 7th or 8th is always going to get a Friday or Saturday night game.

Brisbane/ Adelaide game Friday night v 7th or 8th
Bulldogs at Etihad Sat arvo v 7th or 8th
Coll V Geel Sat night
St Kilda v 4th Sunday arvo

they'd have to be happy wiv the pies/cats at the g on the sat nite though