True Wildcard System Considered by the AFL, Revisited

[Back One Out]

Yep, have to agree with Snarls.

I was thinking of this f**kin thread while I was watching the crap football on display tonight.

Finals (in any sport) are supposed to be the pinnacle of the season - the best v the best. Not a bunch of inconsistent mediocre teams with zero chance of winning the premiership playing meaningless "wildcard" matches against each other for the sole purpose of milking more money from gullible fans.

 

[magpienato]

Incredible that there is nine teams that will finish below the tyre fire that is Essendon. A better argument would be a top 6 finals

I agree that less teams would by effect make the quality of the finals stronger, however I think with the way money rules the AFL, the wildcard or rather expansion of the finals is inevitable.

 

[JezzasOnTheAsphalt]

Incredible that there is nine teams that will finish below the tyre fire that is Essendon. A better argument would be a top 6 finals

Not that we're ever likely to see it again but yeah, agree with the general rule of thumb being that top third of any comp plays finals. Just more difficult to have an equitable finals series with 6 teams, the past top 6 system meant the 1 v 2 would play a pretty meaningless qualifying final.

 

[Dazzler9]

Not that we're ever likely to see it again but yeah, agree with the general rule of thumb being that top third of any comp plays finals. Just more difficult to have an equitable finals series with 6 teams, the past top 6 system meant the 1 v 2 would play a pretty meaningless qualifying final.

The 1 v 2 QF was anything but meaningless.

 

[Dazzler9]

Titus put it best last week in his preview of Freo vs Essendon -

 

[JezzasOnTheAsphalt]

The 1 v 2 QF was anything but meaningless.

Meaningless in the sense that win or lose you were playing another final next weekend.

 

[Dazzler9]

Meaningless in the sense that win or lose you were playing another final next weekend.

OK. But a big difference in the outcome of those two finals. Just to be clear.

 

[Back One Out]

The AFL have never had an original thought in their heads. The National Draft, Salary Cap and Video Review are all copied ideas from the NFL. So too is this idea of finals Wildcards. It's a borrowed idea from the NFL. Except the AFL play us all for mugs. Have a look at the difference between NFL wildcards and the proposed AFL wildcards

NFL = 32 teams in 2 separate conferences (NFC & AFC)
...NFC = 16 teams in 4 separate divisions (E/W/N/S)
...AFC = 16 teams in 4 separate divisions (E/W/N/S)

Playoffs are for each division leader plus 2 wildcards from each conference. 12 of 32 NFL teams reach the playoffs (37.5%)
Look at the win/loss of the NFL teams from last season and compare that to the AFL's proposed Top 8 + Wildcards system

AFC
West: Kansas City Chiefs 12-4
East: New England Patriots 11-5
South: Houston Texans 11-5
North: Baltimore Ravens 10-6
Wildcard: Los Angeles Chargers 12-4
Wildcard: Indianapolis Colts 10-6
Pittsburgh Steelers 9-6-1
Tennessee Titans 9-7
Cleveland Browns 7-8-1
Miami Dolphins 7-9
Denver Broncos 6-10
Cincinnati Bengals 6-10
Buffalo Bills 6-10
Jacksonville Jaguars 5-11
New York Jets 4-12
Oakland Raiders 4-12

NFC
South: New Orleans Saints 13-3
West: Los Angeles Rams 13-3
North: Chicago Bears 12-4
East: Dallas Cowboys 10-6
Wildcard: Seattle Seahawks 10-6
Wildcard: Philadelphia Eagles 9-7
Minnesota Vikings 8-7-1
Atlanta Falcons 7-9
Washington Redskins 7-9
Carolina Panthers 7-9
Green Bay Packers 6-9-1
Detroit Lions 6-10
New York Giants 5-11
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 5-11
San Francisco 49ers 4-12
Arizona Cardinals 3-13


12 of 32 NFL teams reach the playoffs (37.5%)

8 of 18 AFL teams make the finals (44.4%)...
Plus 2 wild cards = 10 of 18 teams (55.6%)
2 "wildcards" really means 4 wildcards: 7th v 10th and 8th vs 9th


Likely 2019 ladder
Geelong 16-6
Brisbane 16-6
West Coast 16-6
Richmond 16-6
Collingwood 15-7
GWS Giants 13-9
W Bulldogs 12-10
Essendon 12-10
Pt Adelaide 11-11
Hawthorn 10-12
Adelaide 10-12
North Melb 10-12
Fremantle 9-13
St Kilda 9-13
Sydney 8-14
Carlton 7-15
Melbourne 5-17
Gold Coast 3-19


Talk about rewarding mediocrity. Who would want to see either Adelaide team and Hawthorn in this year's finals after the crappy seasons they've had? Neither team would have any hope of winning the flag. (Nor do GWS, Essendon or the Doggies, for the matter.) So why are we wasting our time creating finals systems for the no-hopers who finish 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th ?

Answer: AFL greed & short-sighted stupidity. Bending over for the TV executives like a cheap whore.

Go & get f**ked AFL, Channel 7 and Foxtel. Stop wrecking our great game.

 

[kozi]

While we’re at it, why not have 11th play 10th with the winner playing 9th in the battle for the wildcard with the winner of that playing the actual wildcard vs 8th for the last finals spot.

Could wrap it all up in about 4 neat meaningless money whoring weeks before the actual finals start.

 

[Professor Knowall]

So why are we wasting our time creating finals systems for the no-hopers who finish 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th ?...

Yeah - like those no-hoper Bulldogs in 2016.

 

[Teen Wolf]

The AFL have never had an original thought in their heads. The National Draft, Salary Cap and Video Review are all copied ideas from the NFL. So too is this idea of finals Wildcards. It's a borrowed idea from the NFL. Except the AFL play us all for mugs. Have a look at the difference between NFL wildcards and the proposed AFL wildcards

NFL = 32 teams in 2 separate conferences (NFC & AFC)
...NFC = 16 teams in 4 separate divisions (E/W/N/S)
...AFC = 16 teams in 4 separate divisions (E/W/N/S)

Playoffs are for each division leader plus 2 wildcards from each conference. 12 of 32 NFL teams reach the playoffs (37.5%)
Look at the win/loss of the NFL teams from last season and compare that to the AFL's proposed Top 8 + Wildcards system

AFC
West: Kansas City Chiefs 12-4
East: New England Patriots 11-5
South: Houston Texans 11-5
North: Baltimore Ravens 10-6
Wildcard: Los Angeles Chargers 12-4
Wildcard: Indianapolis Colts 10-6
Pittsburgh Steelers 9-6-1
Tennessee Titans 9-7
Cleveland Browns 7-8-1
Miami Dolphins 7-9
Denver Broncos 6-10
Cincinnati Bengals 6-10
Buffalo Bills 6-10
Jacksonville Jaguars 5-11
New York Jets 4-12
Oakland Raiders 4-12

NFC
South: New Orleans Saints 13-3
West: Los Angeles Rams 13-3
North: Chicago Bears 12-4
East: Dallas Cowboys 10-6
Wildcard: Seattle Seahawks 10-6
Wildcard: Philadelphia Eagles 9-7
Minnesota Vikings 8-7-1
Atlanta Falcons 7-9
Washington Redskins 7-9
Carolina Panthers 7-9
Green Bay Packers 6-9-1
Detroit Lions 6-10
New York Giants 5-11
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 5-11
San Francisco 49ers 4-12
Arizona Cardinals 3-13


12 of 32 NFL teams reach the playoffs (37.5%)

8 of 18 AFL teams make the finals (44.4%)...
Plus 2 wild cards = 10 of 18 teams (55.6%)
2 "wildcards" really means 4 wildcards: 7th v 10th and 8th vs 9th


Likely 2019 ladder
Geelong 16-6
Brisbane 16-6
West Coast 16-6
Richmond 16-6
Collingwood 15-7
GWS Giants 13-9
W Bulldogs 12-10
Essendon 12-10
Pt Adelaide 11-11
Hawthorn 10-12
Adelaide 10-12
North Melb 10-12
Fremantle 9-13
St Kilda 9-13
Sydney 8-14
Carlton 7-15
Melbourne 5-17
Gold Coast 3-19


Talk about rewarding mediocrity. Who would want to see either Adelaide team and Hawthorn in this year's finals after the crappy seasons they've had? Neither team would have any hope of winning the flag. (Nor do GWS, Essendon or the Doggies, for the matter.) So why are we wasting our time creating finals systems for the no-hopers who finish 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th ?

Answer: AFL greed & short-sighted stupidity. Bending over for the TV executives like a cheap whore.

Go & get f**ked AFL, Channel 7 and Foxtel. Stop wrecking our great game.

The NFL does it one way, tennis does it another, etc. Why shouldn't the AFL's take on a wildcard be different yet again (supposing they were to implement one at all).

 

[Back One Out]

Yeah - like those no-hoper Bulldogs in 2016.

The 2016 ladder was an anomaly with 7 legitimate premiership contenders on 15+ wins

The comp was in a weird state of flux with no stand-out great teams and a bunch of basket cases who were all worthy of winning the spoon.

The Bulldogs had a heap of injuries that season and Hawthorn pinched a game from them in Round 3 which the Dogs never should've lost: 14.9 (93) to 13.12 (90). The Bulldogs won the contested possessions 161-132. They won the uncontested possessions 257-206. They won the clearances 46-30 and led by 21 points at 3/4 time. It was a flukish win by Hawthorn, one of 5 or 6 flukey close wins throughout the year. Our straights sets finals exit showed we were probably lucky to finish in top 4 and it should've been the Bulldogs instead of us.


Sydney 17-5, 151.2
Geelong 17-5, 143.8
Hawthorn 17-5, 118.6
GWS Giants 16-6, 143.1
Adelaide 16-6, 138.3
West Coast 16-6, 130.0
W Bulldogs 15-7, 115.4
North Melb 12-10, 105.2
---------------------------
St Kilda 12-10, 95.7
Pt Adelaide 10-12, 106.0
Melbourne 10-12, 97.6
Collingwood 9-13, 95.6
Richmond 8-14, 79.5
Carlton 7-15, 79.3
Gold Coast 6-16, 78.2
Fremantle 4-18, 74.3
Brisbane 3-19, 61.6
Essendon 3-19, 61.0

 

[Back One Out]

The NFL does it one way, tennis does it another, etc. Why shouldn't the AFL's take on a wildcard be different yet again (supposing they were to implement one at all).

I explained why not. Didn't you read my post?

 

[Lsta062]

Yeah - like those no-hoper Bulldogs in 2016.

They were 2 wins away from top spot with 15 wins and 7 losses though. They are an exception and not the trend. I don’t remember a 7th-placed side with such a good win-loss record

 

[projectv]

If the Bulldogs miss the finals this year then I will wholeheartedly support a wild card system.