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The ARL Commission claims its decision to scrap the McIntyre finals system has been vindicated with the top four all securing preliminary finals berths for the first time in history.
Not since the NRL moved away from its long-held top five in 1995 have the leading four sides all progressed through to the penultimate weekend of the season.
That included 13 seasons of the McIntyre system, which was often criticised for its failure to give enough of an advantage to those sides that had been the most consistent throughout the regular season.
But with the ARL Commission choosing to adopt the AFL’s top-eight system – which splits the finalists into a top and bottom tier – the top four finally won the right to battle it out for the two grand final berths on offer.
“The rewards which the top four received in receiving home finals week one and two has been a success,” ARLC director of football operations Nathan McGuirk told AAP.
“It justifies their position on the table that they receive that benefit.
“Before we made the decision we consulted the clubs and the large majority of them were in support of moving away from the McIntyre system.
“The consensus was that the top four required a greater reward for their efforts during the year and that’s what this system has delivered.”
The NRL actually used the current system in 1995 and 1996 when only two of the top four progressed through to the final four, while in all but one season of the McIntyre system – used from 1999 to 2011 – three of the top four sides reached the preliminary final.
Should this year’s results continue, there could be an argument the system gives too much of an advantage to the top four.
That certainly appears to be the case in the AFL, where 50 of the 52 preliminary finalists since the current system was introduced in 2000 have been top four sides.
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