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So the 2010 AFL grand final has finished in a draw, which now means we’re back to do it all again next week. It was a remarkable match, but after four quarters of brilliant footy with scores locked at 68-all, the players and spectators have every right to feel cheated.
Both teams came expecting a result. Most came confident of a win, but also prepared for a loss. No one even contemplated leaving the ground with nothing.
The lead up to grand final day is as spectacular as the day itself. The annual parade itself received an incredible crowd, estimated at over 100,000 people lining the streets of Melbourne.
Grand final day and the fanfare continued. INXS rocked the MCG, retiring greats were treated to a lap of honour, and finally the day we’ve all been waiting for had arrived. Only now we have to keep waiting.
Fans didn’t know how to react, and as the siren sounded players slumped to the ground possibly pondering whether anything was achieved?
Nick Maxwell’s feelings were evident after the match describing the situation as “a joke”. The absurdity of allowing a draw was clear when Lenny Hayes was awarded the Norm Smith medal, for a match that history books won’t even acknowledge as the Premiership decider. Now that this precedent has been set, will all players who played over the two matches be eligible for a premiership medal?
The big winner from a drawn grand final is Channel Seven. Yesterday’s match had a total of 2.8 million viewers. Seven executives must be licking their lips at the opportunity to broadcast a second grand final to such a large audience.
The AFL can also reap in the benefits with another money windfall expected from staging the league’s biggest game twice in one season.
There are some benefits for fans with an extra 16,000 tickets being made available for Collingwood and St Kilda members. But one has to wonder why these tickets can’t be made available to them in the first place.
The draw during the regular season is an acceptable result with both teams awarded two points, this shouldn’t be disputed. When it comes to do-or-die finals time, understandably the rules change and extra time is played should a draw occur at full time.
Remarkably though, when a result is required the most on grand final day, a draw is suddenly acceptable and has players and fans asking, now what? If next week’s match had also ended in a draw, the AFL rules state a third match is required the following week with this trend continuing until a resulting win.
Realising the idiocy in this, the AFL declared that should a draw occur in the rematch, extra time will indeed be played.
The lead up to this week’s replay however, won’t have the same fanfare that the AFL grand final deserves. With only three grand final draws in VFL/AFL history it may seem excessive to request a rule change, but a drawn grand final ultimately means nobody wins.
The match on September 25, 2010 will now be seen as irrelevant, and for one of the great grand final matches, that is a sad day for the history books.
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