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Last week I wrote about Collingwood being the root of all evil in the AFL. At least that’s how some Magpies supporters took it. In reality, I wrote the equivalent of the Reader’s Digest version of War and Peace outlining the current problems with AFL fixtures.
I also listed the options to make the draw fairer for all concerned.
I came to the conclusion that a conference system would be the best option as it would make the draw fairer while not significantly increasing or decreasing the number of games.
How would such a system work? What teams would be in what conference? How would the finals work? Am I being crazier than Mark ‘Jacko’ Jackson in a TV commercial?
Well it gives me great pleasure to unveil Lee’s AFL Conference and Finals System, or LAFLCAFS for short.
As I said in my last piece, if there are enough suggestions and possible tweaks I’ll consider changing it to TRAFLCAFS (The Roar’s AFL Conference and Finals System).
Put on the kettle, pull up your socks and strap yourself in.
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Lee’s AFL Conference and Finals System (LAFLCAFS) v1.0
1) THE CONFERENCES
Firstly, split the competition into two nine-team conferences. To avoid the inevitable petty squabbling between clubs over who should go in what conference I’m simply splitting the teams into east and west.
The interstate teams are straightforward. Logically 4 of those teams fit into each conference. The WA and SA teams would be in the Western Conference and the NSW and Queensland teams in the Eastern Conference.
However, Victoria poses a bit of a problem.
To resolve this I’m simply counting in from the club in the eastern most suburb of Melbourne until I’ve counted five clubs. Those clubs would be placed in the Eastern Conference and the rest in the Western.
By my reckoning this is how the two conferences would look:
Eastern Conference:
Brisbane, Collingwood, Gold Coast, Greater Western Sydney, Hawthorn, Melbourne, Richmond, St Kilda, Sydney.
Western Conference:
Adelaide, Carlton, Essendon, Fremantle, Geelong, North Melbourne, Port Adelaide, West Coast, Western Bulldogs.
Each team would play every team in their conference twice, once at home and once away, and every team in the other conference once.
For the teams in the other conference, if you play them at home one year then you play them away the next (and vice versa).
Thus each season would be 25 games long.
It feels like we’re off to a good start. I don’t know about you but I’m feeling more excited than Hayden Ballantyne kicking a behind after the siren for a one point loss. Let’s hope I don’t have the same let down.
2) THE FINALS
The top 4 teams from each conference at the end of the season make the Finals. The system would be a slightly altered version of the current top 8.
In order to ensure that any two teams could only play each other a maximum of three times in one season, including the Finals and the Grand Final, the first round of the Finals will criss-cross across the two conferences.
Here’s how the finals system would work:
Round 1:
1st Qualifying Final: West first seed vs East second seed.
2nd Qualifying Final: East 1 vs West 2.
1st Elimination Final: West 3 vs East 4
2nd Elimination Final: East 3 vs West 4.
Round 2:
1st Semi Final: Loser QF1 vs Winner EF1.
2nd Semi Final: Loser QF2 vs Winner EF2.
Round 3:
1st Preliminary Final: Winner QF1 vs Winner SF2
2nd Preliminary Final: Winner QF2 vs Winner SF1
Round 4:
Grand Final: Winners of Preliminary Finals play off. If the game is a draw we go to a thrilling Scissors, Paper, Rock contest.
3) THE NAB CUP AND PRESEASON
The preference would be to scrap the current NAB Preseason Cup.
Players and coaches don’t like playing it because of the altered rules and apart from the Final, it doesn’t tend to have great TV ratings. Besides, we now have to fit in three more matches.
Unfortunately the likelihood of scrapping the NAB Cup altogether is slim. The league wants a build up to the season for sponsorship. The chase of the almighty dollar is always goal numero uno down at AFL House.
So my proposal is that there are two rounds of preseason scratch match games played predominantly in country towns like the current NAB Challenge.
However, like the movie ‘Sixth Sense‘ there is a twist. It’s not quite as spellbinding as finding out Bruce Willis is a ghost, but it makes more sense.
On the second weekend of the pre-season matches, the AFL Night Grand Final is held.
The two teams in the Night Grand Final would be those that had the best winning ratios playing night games during the previous home-and-away season.
It wouldn’t be decided on total number of wins as not all teams play the same amount of night games each season.
For example, if the Sydney Swans played eight night games the previous season and won six of them, their night game winning ratio is 75%.
If that is one of the top two winning ratios in night games from across the league then they would make the Night Grand Final held before the start of the next season.
The game would be held at the home ground of the team with the best night game winning percentage from the previous season. Any winning ratio ties can be decided by using the traditional points percentage but for night games only.
I’m sure most teams would prefer to make the home-and away Finals but it could make a nice consolation prize for a side who misses out.
I’m sure clubs would rate it higher than the “I ran in a race” sticker given out to children who don’t place in their race at the school athletics carnival.
Would a last round home-and-away round game involving a team that can’t make the finals but could make the Night Grand Final for the start of the next season have increased entertainment value? I believe so.
This way the AFL still has it’s preseason sponsorship vehicle. Additionally, calling it the Night Grand Final again and using meaningful games to decide the combatants brings some significance back to winning the preseason cup.
4) THE DRAFT
Nothing changes really. The team with the worst overall record across the two conferences gets the first pick. The team with the second worst overall record gets the second pick and so on.
Though admittedly I think I might be saying this out of pure laziness.
Attempting to discuss the issues with the draft would be opening up a can full of more worms than a ten tonne compost heap. Let’s save that for another day.
5) THE VERDICT
In my previous article I identified for key issues wrong with the current AFL fixtures system. So how does LAFLCAFS help these?
Issue 1, too few teams playing each other twice, would be resolved by the fact the season has expanded by a couple of games; thus decreasing the advantage of playing a poor side twice.
Additionally, as each conference is a separate ladder then the advantage is further diminished by the fact that any teams playing a poor side twice, or good side twice for that matter, are only competing against each other for ladder position.
Issue 2, there being no real rhyme nor reason to the schedule, would be resolved by providing the team’s with a stable and relatively known schedule from year to year.
Issue 3, the lack of travel by high profile Melbourne teams, would be mitigated by having an even amount of interstate teams in each conference. Unless they choose to sell home games interstate, each Victorian team would be guaranteed to travel outside of Victoria 12 times over two home-and-away seasons. No more, no less.
Issue 4, the burden of travel for teams on the eastern and western seaboards, is eased by ensuring teams on opposite extremes of the country aren’t in the same conference. Thus they only have to travel to the other side of the country four times over two home-and-away seasons.
Other benefits:
– Two of the biggest Victorian draw cards, Collingwood and Hawthorn, playing 2 games a year in both NSW and Queensland. This is good win for helping promote the game in the non-traditional states.
– The WA Derby, SA Showdown, Queensland Qlang-Clash and NSW Discombobulation Altercation are guaranteed to happen twice a year.
The Negatives:
– Essendon, Geelong and Carlton are in the opposite conference to Collingwood and thus each would only play the Pies only once a year. Though I kind of like that they would only play each other once a season.
To me the Bombers and Magpies on ANZAC Day clash would take on even more significance as a marquee event if it were to be the only time the two sides were going to match up all season. The same goes for Geelong or Carlton squaring off with the Magpies.
– The Finals system is limited to only the top four sides in each conference. As such there is the chance that a side that misses out on the Finals in one conference is a better side, or even has a better record, than sides that make the Finals in the other conference.
My counter to this would be that deserving sides also miss the Finals under the case under the current system.
If you went through year-to-year I’m sure you could easily argue that a side finishing ninth was a better side than the team finishing eighth. The difference in the end being that the ninth side had a tougher schedule.
Can you definitively say that Carlton deserved to make the Finals ahead of North Melbourne in 2010? They both finished on 11 wins last season.
Carlton played teams who didn’t make the Finals 12 times while North played the same teams just 10 times. Carlton won against top 8 sides just twice while North Melbourne beat top 8 sides 3 times.
Additionally, the Kangaroos beat the Blues the only time they played during the season. At the very least we can agree it is very muddy as to which side was actually better.
A deserving side could miss out on the Finals under LAFLCAFS. However as the fixtures are fairer, in reality a good side has a better chance of making the Finals.
– LAFLCAFS doesn’t totally provide a totally even draw. Again though, it is a damn sight more fair than the current system due to the issues it addresses.
A totally even draw could only happen if each team played each other twice every season. A 34 round home-and-away season is about as likely to occur as Andrew Demetriou ever conceding that he is wrong.
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So there you have it. LAFLCAFS v1.0 for all to pick apart and ridicule. All the things the World Wide Web was invented for (besides pornography).
Please feel free to analyse, suggest and comment. I would love to improve LAFLCAFS so as to make the fairest ever fixture system that will probably never happen, even though it should.
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