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The AFL's top eight should return to the top six

Roar Guru
18th September, 2014
14

Last weekend AFL fans were treated to two fantastic games which saw a nail-biter at the MCG between the old stager Geelong and the new contender North Melbourne, followed by a remarkable comeback by the Power in the West.

In stark contrast, the previous week the two games which failed to deliver any sparkle whatsoever were the elimination finals, which saw a tired Essendon bow out and Richmond humiliated.

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This highlights that the ladder doesn’t lie and while those finishing fifth and sixth have looked the part and indeed upset their more fancied rivals, those finishing seventh and eight are average sides simply making up the numbers.

With a new television deal almost upon us, the AFL need to stop rewarding mediocrity and tighten the finals fixture to ensure that those who qualify are certain to provide finals-quality football and genuinely have a chance of taking the top prize.

Since 1994 the AFL has employed a top-eight final series and for the first six years used the McIntyre format.

This system saw the top side play the eighth-placed team, second would host seventh and so on during week one of the finals. The problem with this system and the reason it only lasted six years is that it did not provide those who had finished on top with a great enough reward.

In the inaugural top-eight final series in 1994 Carlton, who finished second, suffered a shock week-one loss and were forced to be the away side in week two, ultimately being bundled out in straight sets.

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On the whole though, the McIntyre system saw a number of big blow outs, with miss-matched games during week one of every finals series. It did provide excitement in 1998 however when Adelaide, with a terrific three-week run of form during September, won an unexpected flag having finished fifth and losing their first final but remaining in the premiership race. This sort of reprieve should not be allowed for a team who finish outside the top four and it took the AFL just over a year to recognise their mistake.

Unsurprisingly this was the only time since the inception of a top eight that a team had come from outside the top four to claim a premiership. There needed to be greater reward given to those teams who had finished on top of the ladder rather than simply who was in the best form come finals time, otherwise what is the point of having such a lengthy season to determine the top sides?

The AFL soon realised this and in 2000 the current eight team play-off system was designed to, quite rightly, give the top four teams an advantage and a double chance at home should they lose in week one. Teams soon discovered that to finish outside the top four would almost certainly mean you had no chance of holding aloft the premiership cup.

But does this lessen the experience for those sides and does this system reward the teams that finish third and fourth too heavily?

Suddenly if the first and fourth placed teams are from the same state it is essentially a cutthroat final at both clubs’ home ground, or for those who are based at Etihad their final at the MCG could even seem on foreign soil (it certainly would for the Kangaroos for example).

It is time to truly reward those teams that finish in the top two positions.

So what is the solution? Finishing top eight out of eighteen teams rewards mediocrity and it must be a greater challenge to simply be in the finals race. It’s time to do away with the final eight and make it a top six.

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From here the finals race becomes a simple three-week series, with the top two earning a week off and hosting the winners of third versus sixth and fourth versus fifth. This will lead to two cracking elimination finals which lead directly into a preliminary final and a genuine chance at a premiership for all sides, though the advantage is still with the top two.

People say finals football is more exciting but this year proved the run into the finals for teams like Richmond and West Coast can be just as intense and the games can be brilliant to watch.

What it also showed is that all the effort used by Richmond and Essendon to get to the finals meant they were burnt out by week one and never a chance to seriously challenge.

A top six, with third to sixth playing in week one, should mean sides are evenly matched and playing a high quality brand of football, but those lower finishing sides still have a realistic chance to lift the cup.

Finals football can’t have teams making up the numbers and a return to the top six would be a chance for the AFL to revise a stale format and truly reward those who have performed all season and deserve a chance at premiership glory.

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