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Concepts like extra time, penalty shootouts and golden point probably do a good job of servicing the sports they are used in. But the AFL should be applauded for sticking by the replay this week in the wake of Saturday’s drawn Grand Final. When it comes to the biggest game of the year, the replay has the other tie-breaker methods beat.
It can only be a good thing that Collingwood (who did not have momentum toward the end of the game) and St Kilda (who were playing a man down with Michael Gardiner’s injury) didn’t lose the premiership under almost trivial circumstances.
Instead, both sides can accept that 120 minutes of football couldn’t separate them, take stock and go back to the drawing board.
They can address what went wrong. They can replace injured players. Players that underperformed or missed crucial shots can get a genuine chance at redemption, rather than a ten-minute window.
Then, come Saturday afternoon, they can both do battle again and see who really is the better side – not just the one with the most luck or momentum at the right time.
That’s not to say regular games aren’t decided by luck or momentum, of course. It’s just that when it happens outside the confines of four quarters of footy, it’s a different story. Players go into games – even, I suspect, games where extra time is a possibility – expecting four quarters and play as though that is what’s required.
In contrast, under the replay system, there are no excuses. That’s the true beauty of it.
The cynical among you will say it’s all about the dollars, that this is all very typical of the greedy AFL. After all, the estimate the league could earn $19 million from the replay was not denied by Andrew Demetriou.
But it has to be remembered this rule has been around since well before the advent of a national competition and TV broadcast rights. Remarkably, this was only the third drawn Grand Final in 114 years.
Which leads us to another point. If this was happening every year, there’d be a more pressing need to cast a critical eye over the system. But chances are we won’t see another drawn Grand Final for 30 or 40 years – potentially more.
There’s simply no need for the kind of urgency that some are suggesting. In fact, with this event being such a rarity, you have to question why we all can’t just appreciate it on the occasion it does happen.
After all, we’re getting two Grand Finals in the one year – how awesome is that?
There’s been no shortage of knockers this week, both from within the game and outside of it. “You can’t have a situation like this, there’s too much riding on it,” said St Kilda president Greg Westaway.
“It’s an absolute joke,” said Collingwood captain Nick Maxwell.
“It has always been bloody stupid to have a draw in a sport that should always get a result,” said Jason Akermanis.
According to others, it’s unfair. It doesn’t make sense. It’s unheard of in world sport.
But none of that changes the fact the 2010 AFL Grand Final will go down in history as one of the classics. That it will be remembered and talked about decades from now. That this can all be said confidently despite the fact, technically speaking, we’re only half-way through.
Sure, the other methods of determining a winner might be more convenient in that they decide a winner on the day.
But which would you prefer decide the AFL premiers – convenience or fairness?