Wildcard weekend - yes or no

[BigVic]

Had we had a Wildcard weekend, this week would've seen

GWS (7th) vs Adelaide Crows (10th) - Giants Stadium
Sydney Swans (8th) vs Western Bulldogs (9th) - SCG

Two matches in Sydney with the top 6 getting a week off. What are your thoughts on a wildcard weekend? Personally I'm not a fan of it.

 

[kane249]

No, having a top 8 is enough without recognizing 9th and 10th also.

Just seems like a pointless additional 2 more games.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

What's the point, if you come 7th-10th no chance anyway. The AFLPA won't agree with it either an extra game, etc.

 

[No Quarter]

Just seems like a pointless additional 2 more games.

AFL be like:

 

[parano1a]

7th and 8th both won easily in the VFL on the weekend against 10th and 9th.

 

[LoungeLizard]

Had we had a Wildcard weekend, this week would've seen

GWS (7th) vs Adelaide Crows (10th) - Giants Stadium
Sydney Swans (8th) vs Western Bulldogs (9th) - SCG

Two matches in Sydney with the top 6 getting a week off. What are your thoughts on a wildcard weekend? Personally I'm not a fan of it.

Do the VFL do this?

 

[Cmarsh]

Where's the "hell no" option?

 

[Purple7x08_24]

Maybe

 

[CrazyJoeFevola]

8 out of 18 is more than enough. More than half of the competition in the finals would be pathetic. In most seasons you’d have sides making the finals with 9-10 wins.

 

[dazbroncos]

just more seppo bullshit to americanise the game.

nope

GO Catters

 

[TheEscapeClub]

So while the top 6 are resting up, getting injured players right to go, there's 4 teams smashing each other to win the right to play 5th and 6th the following week?

Great idea.

 

[parano1a]

Do the VFL do this?

Yes, was just held this past weekend.
Casey Demons (7th) beat North Melbourne (10th)
Collingwood (8th) beat Richmond (9th).

So the Top 8 will continue as normal for Finals which start next weekend.

 

[Underarm]

Adelaide won less than half their matches. They shouldn't be playing finals.

 

[Elmer_Judd]

Nope. Game is Americanised enough these days as it is.

 

[kickazz]

We need a sticky thread this time of the year to explain to people what a wildcard system actually is.

 

[Quivorir]

Nope. We have 23 games to qualify for finals. If you can't do it then tough s**t.

 

[Elmer_Judd]

Nope. We have 23 games to qualify for finals. If you can't do it then tough s**t.

24 with the Crows getting an extra home game this year and still couldn't seal the deal on their own merits.

 

[MCG-Unit]

No, nyet, nein

 

[kickazz]

So for those that don't know, adding 9 and 10 is not a wildcard, it's just a final ten. If you want to use Americanisms then the coming proposal would be what they call a "play in" round or tournament.

Wild Card can only happen if we have a conference like structure, where teams make the finals based on a comparison with only other teams that in their group. It is fair because it mitigates imbalance in the fixture. The top x from each group would go into the finals, with wildcards making up the remainder, and being (probably) given to the teams with the best overall league wide record.

 

[TheBigHorne]

In the AFL there are already teams that finish 7th or 8th and doomed to be trounced in the first week adding more slots isn't going to help with anything.

 

[Stamos]

No.

But if having it in meant we could go to a 17 or 18 (everyone once + rivalry round) game season I'd be ok with it.

 

[Dan26]

Just make it a straight knockout final-10 over 4 weeks with the week off (which is currently held after the last home and away round) instead held after the Preliminary Finals to give both Grand Finalists 14 days off and maximum preparation time for the biggest game of the year.

10 teams is not too many. We had 8 make it in a 16 team comp, then we added two teams but kept the number of finalists the same. If you increase the number of teams in the AFL, then increase the amount of finalists - it's not rocket science.

A knockout final-10 is nine finals over 4 weeks (5 with the extra week off) exactly the same as the current system.

WEEK ONE
7 v 10
8 v 9

WEEK TWO
4 v 5
3 v 6
2 vs highest winner from week one (eg 2 v 7)
1 vs lowest winner from week one eg (1 v8)

WEEK THREE
highest seed vs lowest seed (eg 1 v 4)
2nd-highest seed vs 2nd-lowest seed (eg 2 v 3)

WEEK FOUR
Bye

WEEK FIVE
Grand Final.

It's easily the best system.

The top teams can be eliminated from the second week onwards, (just like the current final-8) and can't be eliminated in the first week (just like the current final-8)

The top teams play two consecutive finals with byes either side (eg bye-win-win-bye- Grand Final). This is far better than the current system, where the top team goes bye-win-bye-win-Grand Final. The winner of the Qualifying Final under the current system has played one game in 21 days by the time the Preliminary Final is played.

It also creates less dead rubbers and would have made for a far more interesting final round. Essendon would have been playing for a finals spot in the last round versus Collingwood and after losing, three other teams could have moved into 10th. It would have been a far more exciting final round.

Make it happen AFL.

 

[maskmcgee]

If they do want to do 2 more finals make it an actual wildcard. Select the two highest scoring teams or two best percentages or something instead of just 9th and 10th

 

[Billy ray]

a real wildcard round would be top 6 set and then the next 4 teams with best percentage play eachother
looking at ladder that would be:
Adelaide 116.8
Geelong 112.6
Sydney 110.0
GWS 107.1

so you would have Adelaide v GWS and Geelong v Sydney
thats a wildcard - not a top 10

two winners go through and get 7th and 8th

 

[LoungeLizard]

a real wildcard round would be top 6 set and then the next 4 teams with best percentage play eachother
looking at ladder that would be:
Adelaide 116.8
Geelong 112.6
Sydney 110.0
GWS 107.1

so you would have Adelaide v GWS and Geelong v Sydney
thats a wildcard - not a top 10

two winners go through and get 7th and 8th

Sounds good in theory, but what happens if one team has a bad run of wet games?