North Melbourne wanted to stay in Melbourne for week one of the finals, Fremantle didn’t want to leave Western Australia in the last regular season round, and Brisbane handed Carlton pick one and possibly pick two by beating Western Bulldogs.
The AFL makes the rules, and the AFL clubs abide by them perfectly legally by resting their players, but is it right?
The Fremantle example is pretty clearcut for the AFL to give the green light. A win, loss or draw changed nothing for the top eight, and Port Adelaide move one spot lower on the draft picks pecking order with their win against the Fremantle second string side.
It’s not ideal for the spectacle of AFL football, but all things considered not a big deal in the scheme of things.
And calling a spade a spade, what’s to say that Fremantle wouldn’t be hit with a plague of general soreness, flu and niggly injuries. Even the weekend warriors that play fifth and sixth grade on Saturday afternoon know that by the end of the season the hamstrings are a bit tight and the knee is held together with strapping tape.
So the honesty of Fremantle in saying outright that they wanted to give players a rest rather than flying them to Adelaide for a meaningless game is refreshing.
North Melbourne’s case, on the other hand, brings up a different argument. A loss guaranteed they would play in Melbourne, a win opened the risk of playing the in-form Crows in Adelaide.
The argument that other results were needed for that to happen is a poor excuse, as Brisbane did beat the Bulldogs. There isn’t anything wrong with starting players from the playing roster, but for the soul purpose of manipulating results it shouldn’t have been given a green light. Resting some of the players would be acceptable, but nearly half the squad is a risky strategy.
For both Fremantle and North Melbourne, it is a bold strategy to make wholesale changes to their ‘losing’ teams. Is there a chance that upsetting the balance could cost them dearly? Well, we will find out on Saturday and Sunday.
I think Fremantle might be okay, but North Melbourne might struggle because anything they could have learnt from their match against Richmond isn’t going to carry over. They are going to bring in different players who bring a different skill sets.
The other point I was interested in, is that some experts think Brisbane should have thrown their game against Western Bulldogs. By winning, they avoid the wooden spoon, and lose pick one in the national draft.
With Carlton possibly getting a compensation pick, which would be pick two, Brisbane could find themselves missing out on top talents Jacob Weitering and Josh Schache. This isn’t an article about the flaws of free agency however, but a simple observation that Brisbane may miss out on a golden opportunity to grab some talented players.
From a personal standpoint, I think it’s great that Brisbane didn’t entertain losing. I would like to think that no team goes out with the intention of losing, and think it will do the confidence and mood of Brisbane a lot of good finishing the season on a high.
Do I think the AFL needs to tweak its rules around resting players on mass at the end of season? Yes.
How can they do it without allowing genuinely injured, sore or sick players to take week off? I’m not sure. But it’s not a good look for the AFL when the media can sell papers on the back of teams tanking and manipulating ladder positions.
But what are your thoughts, Roarers? Were Brisbane right in trying to win and not taking the pick one in the draft?
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.
It was six years ago - but BT has a long memory!
Betrayal from the triple-premiership Richmond captain!
Sometimes the numbers are misleading, or tell only one part of a bigger, more complicated story. And sometimes they sum things up so perfectly…
This will amazingly be the first time the McKay brothers will play against each other since they were both drafted back in 2015.
Isaac Heeney has been a revelation so far this season and is one of the favourites for the Brownlow Medal. The Sydney utility is averaging the most score involvements per game of any player in the competition
If the Dockers want to make a statement and confirm their September credentials, it starts with a big game against the Premiers on Friday night.
