Much has been made about the bye in the AFL recently. Teams get the chance to have a breather, lose precious momentum, and Jimmy Bartel even found time to watch the NBA finals in America.
Having witnessed two big upsets last round with Brisbane and Port beating Geelong and Sydney, two of the potential flag-claimers, some could argue that the bye took momentum out of their season.
They were both flying high before the bye came for them in Round 12, and not disrespecting Port or Brisbane but it may have had a say in the team’s structure and hunger (Kurt Tippett aside)
Here is a simple fix to the problem: instead of spreading the bye over three weeks, why not have a full competition bye between rounds 11-12 and 18-19?
This will provide no excuses for having to build momentum back up again as it would give all players a break at the same time.
It will make it more even in terms of sides having an advantage of having a break later than their opponents.
Take the fact that Hawthorn and Fremantle had their bye in Round 11, while Sydney and Geelong had theirs in Round 12.
This means two of the four flag hopefuls have had one less weekend of consecutive games. Who knows what impact this will have if these sides will meet in the finals in September?
If Hawthorn lose in the first round of finals and have to play 15 weeks straight, while Geelong has played 14 with an extra week’s rest coming from the first week of finals, it would impact both side’s performance.
Some people may say why another full round competition bye between rounds 18-19 when there was one earlier in the season?
It would give teams an extra break, again some will use it well and some may go overseas to train like Dane Swan did in 2011.
I’m sure the people in AFL land wouldn’t like not having any football for two whole weeks but it means sides can freshen up and there may be better quality football.
Sides like GWS will be able to stay competitive.
Teams may also stop ‘resting’ a few players. I know it won’t stop them all but it may make the coaches want to keep their best side out after the second bye to regain ‘momentum’.
A break might not be a bad idea. I’m sure some fans will be happy to pursue other interests as well without having to worry about football on a cold weekend once in a while.
Some of the AFL games did not really have the chance to get hyped up because it did not feel like a real weekend of football.
Some people may blast AFL players because they get paid big money to do something they love but everyone does need a break every now and then.
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.
"You want your key forward to be a beast."
Things heating up in Canberra!
We’re taking a look at one player from each team that needs to make a difference this week, starting with the ANZAC Day games.
It is time that the tribunal became more simplistic, closed defence loopholes, and became representative of the game that it is trying to serve.
Brisbane coach Chris Fagan has defended the AFL Tribunal's controversial decision to overturn star forward Charlie Cameron's one-match suspension for a dangerous tackle, as…
There’s a slight disconnect between the data, the record and the eye test for the Brisbane Lions to start season 2024. This week, Champion…
