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The Roar

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Split the AFL for a fair draw

Roar Pro
24th June, 2013
23

With 22 rounds, the AFL will never have a fully even draw, but I have come up with a solution that gives each team a fair draw and, just as importantly, maximises big matches for good crowd attendances and TV ratings.

Here is my proposal:

All teams play each other once from rounds 1-18 (17 games plus a bye for each team). After 18 rounds, teams are split into three groups – first-sixth, seventh-12th and 13th-18th.

Teams then play all other teams in their group a second time – this gives each team 22 games.

After Round 18, there is a need for three different ladders. The top division play for the top six places on the ladder. The middle division play for the places seventh-12th. The bottom division play for placings 13th-18th – this means they can’t make the finals, but I don’t ever recall a team jumping from 13th to eighth in the final five weeks anyway.

Wins from before Round 18 are still counted towards each team’s total, however a team placed seventh after Round 18 can’t finish higher than that, even if they finish Round 23 with more wins than one of the top six teams.

This is a fair and balanced draw for all teams but also guarantees lots of blockbuster matches, with the final five rounds of the season producing teams playing off for top four positions or fighting it out for the last two spots in the eight.

The AFL could remove the incentive to tank as well as add more interest in the bottom group by giving the top draft picks to the team that finshes 13th (i.e. top of the bottom group), second pick to 14th and so on.

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No team placed 10th-12th is going to tank to get in the bottom group, as being 12th after Round 18 has them still in the hunt for the finals.

It also gives teams down the bottom of the ladder more chance to win games. For example, this year Western Bulldogs and Brisbane only play GWS once, under my proposal it would happen twice (assuming those two teams were in the bottom six after Round 18).

There is a negative in that some big match-ups may only occur once a year – derby, showdown, Collingwood v Essendon, etc. – but this would be made up for by more competitive matches at the business end of the season.

Reserving stadiums may also be difficult but after 12 rounds, the AFL would have a rough idea of who would be where and would be able make sure stadiums used for other events can be reserved as necessary.

The format may also result in some teams getting two home games against the same team within the same season, but this would be a very rare occurrence.

Imagine these possible Round 23 scenarios if my proposal was in effect this year:

– Essendon versus Fremantle in the final round for the last top four spot.
– Carlton versus Richmond for the final top eight spot.
– Melbourne versus GWS for the spoon.

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These type of match-ups would be occurring throughout the final five weeks of competition, effectively creating a finals series before the finals even start.

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