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Time for Australia to drop the grand final model

Roar Rookie
9th June, 2015
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Rabbitohs forward John Sutton. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
Roar Rookie
9th June, 2015
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1900 Reads

The model of the grand final is dead. For too long the contrived edifice of the grand final – supposedly the showpiece of the sporting year in many codes – has taken away from the core product.

It is now merely a contrived business-minded way of capitalising on the spectacle of the event, as apposed to being about the pure sport we all enjoy.

Sure, I have grown to enjoy the big build-up and the week-long celebration of the two ‘best’ teams in the country getting ready to battle it out.

However often the teams competing in the final do not represent a season of dominance, which should be the point. Take the 2014 NRL grand final: the teams competing finished the season third (South Sydney Rabbitohs) and seventh (Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs).

The Bulldogs finished with a season record of 13 games won and 11 lost. After a decidedly average season, they clearly aren’t the second-best team in the competition.

Mediocrity is not only endorsed but rewarded by the NRL, with the ‘showpiece’ model seemingly more about maximising profits rather than letting the best play out a season with highs, lows and tension throughout.

This in turn harms the competition and its pure aspect which has lead to apathy during the year and a dilution of the product in general.

The model allows far too many meaningless and dead-rubber games and allows teams, like Canterbury, to be poor throughout the season with the knowledge that they may scrape into the finals on the back of other equally poor and inconsistent teams.

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This alone must give rise to fans asking what they are paying top dollar for? Are fans expected to pay full price for a season ticket for a team who go out to play a match knowing full well that they are in no danger losing a playoff spot if they underperform?

The New England Patriots went 18-0 leading into Superbowl XLII (in 2008) and lost to the New York Giants, who had a 10-6 record throughout the year. Which team deserved the trophy more, the lads who pulled a rabbit out of the hat in one game, or the team that went out week after week and showed consistency, application and dedication to be the best for the entire year?

The English Premier League is one of the greatest competitions in sport. The subplots that exist, the transfer squabbles, relegation battles, intense competition for each and every point. It forces you to tune in week after week. One pours over stats to work out whether or not your team will survive relegation, or make the treasured Champions League spot!

Then, organically, it all comes down to the famous final day. Who remembers Manchester City’s famous win in 2012 with literally seconds remaining ahead of the AFL, NRL or Super Rugby grand final of the same year?

Instead of creating the hype through a series of slickly produced vignettes and Phil Gould speeches, a season of turmoil for some and pleasure for others should simply speak for itself.

However if anyone would still prefer to sit through Shannon Noll or Meatloaf butcher songs and make people cringe in front of their television sets, by all means keep the grand final as it is.

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