AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou (R) addresses the media. Slattery Images
AFL boss Andrew Demetriou last week floated the possibility of a 24-round season, an expanded finals series and the continuation of the NAB Cup once Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney enter the league.
Whilst the notion of the home and away season expanding to 24 rounds is nothing new, and seems fair enough considering the entry of two new teams, the other two talking points provide much more conjecture.
The concept of an expanded finals series, in particular, doesn’t stack up.
Like clockwork, every five or so months the AFL have been putting out this idea. Back in September 2008 they announced they were looking into it, and Champion Data came out with the best possible way a final nine could be structured. Since then, they have done their best to both talk down the idea and then talk it back up again, leaving fans uncertain as to how things will pan out.
Whilst in theory, just like the 24-round season, the idea makes sense, anyone who spent longer than five seconds looking at the Champion Data model would know there is no way the AFL should let it happen.
The model turns the finals into a game of snakes and ladders. The best sides would get more than one week off over the five-week series, even though weeks off in finals haven’t always been the most beneficial things for clubs in the past.
Worse still, the side that wouldn’t make it under the current system, the team that finishes ninth, is nothing more than a token addition. They’d have to beat the fourth-placed team in the first week, and then two top-three teams over the next two weeks, just to qualify for the preliminary final. Does anyone seriously think a side in that situation will be able to lift the premiership cup?
If the AFL move to a final nine, they can be assured of more one-sided contests that fail to capture the imagination of the footy public.
Leaving the present set-up, especially with more sides fighting for spots, is the obvious way to go. The fact the AFL keep pushing the idea, though, is worrying to say the least.
Meanwhile, Demetriou’s defence of the NAB Cup, whilst certainly not the dominant view among footy fans, did have some validity.
Responding to Matthew Lloyd’s comments that the competition should be scrapped, the AFL boss said, “I think Matthew’s entitled to his opinion but every club tells us they need preparation to get these elite athletes ready for the season.”
“They can’t just throw them into round one. I can assure you that … if we didn’t have a NAB Cup competition, particularly a NAB Regional Challenge, it would be to the detriment of the preparation of the players.”
And when you look at the chaos caused by the cancellation of the Geelong-Brisbane Lions game two weeks ago, with the Cats scrambling to arrange an extra intra-club game and the Lions even appealing to the AFL to schedule them another match, it’s hard to disagree.
The players and the clubs need preparation, so there’s always going to a pre-season of some sort.
If the NAB Cup was scrapped and the pre-season shortened, as so many have suggested, then that is likely to remove, or at least restrict, the ability for that preparation to take place in two key areas – free-to-air television and regional areas.
What other code can boast the sort of coverage footy’s pre-season gets?
And would it really be in the game’s best interests if regional centres, and even suburban grounds for that matter, aren’t able to get a first-hand taste of AFL football?
Obviously, there are constraints caused by the new clubs. But it’s not like the AFL don’t have options. You could give the previous year’s grand finalists an extra week off. You could revert to a simple ladder format to decide a winner.
Two new clubs doesn’t mean the end of the world.
But one thing is clear. The AFL shouldn’t use those two clubs as a vehicle for mass change. Sometimes it is best to just stick to the status quo.
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