In the 2015 AFL fixture release, the AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan raised a curveball by creating a bye round between Round 23 and the qualifying and elimination finals for the 2016 AFL fixture.
This created a huge debate between footy fans and AFL coaches, with many believing it to be a momentum killer.
McLachlan made the bye round to stop teams from resting players in the final round of the home-and-away season. Fremantle rested eleven players against St Kilda in Round 23 in 2013, and North Melbourne and Fremantle rested nine and twelve players against Richmond and Port Adelaide respectively in 2015.
Both of Fremantle and North Melbourne had success in doing this, with Fremantle falling short by 15 points in the grand final against Hawthorn in 2013, in which that flag would be the first of three consecutive premierships for Hawthorn.
North Melbourne and Fremantle fell short by 25 and 27 points against West Coast and Hawthorn respectively in the 2015 preliminary finals.
He believed this was taking the meaning out of the final round of the season, which saw lower teams collecting wins against high teams with half of their best 22 not playing.
I strongly believe that the pre-finals bye round is a positive thing for the AFL, and here are three reasons why.
Firstly, having the pre-finals bye round in place creates time for players to be able to recover from injuries to be able to play in the finals. In 2016, if the bye round hadn’t of been there, it is highly unlikely that the Western Bulldogs would’ve won their first of four amazing finals wins.
The Dogs would have had to have made to consecutive trips to Perth to play at Domain Stadium, where they lost to 16th placed Fremantle in Round 23 by 20 points. It is most likely only Jake Stringer and Jack Macrae would’ve returned for the Bulldogs, already weakening the team that beat West Coast by 47 points on the Eagles home deck.
The odds would of been against them by a higher amount, and would’ve had to have made it through to the following week against Hawthorn to have had Easton Wood, Tom Liberatore, and Jordan Roughead return.
In addition, the theory of the bye round being a ‘momentum killer’ was confirmed in 2016, when Geelong and the GWS Giants lost their home preliminary finals to Sydney and the Western Bulldogs respectively. But is this such a bad thing?
It will be for their club supporters, but overall, how many times have both home preliminary finalists lost to the away team in VFL-AFL history. Rarely, if not never.
This shows that the pre-finals bye round makes the finals more even and less predictable.
You had Sydney versus GWS, West Coast versus Western Bulldogs, Hawthorn versus Western Bulldogs, GWS versus Western Bulldogs, and Sydney versus Western Bulldogs – all of which had surprising outcomes.
That’s five out of nine finals that went against the odds, more than half. How often do you see more than half of the games in the finals series as an upset? Not often, in which it not only adds excitement not only into Round 23, but also into the whole entire finals series.
Furthermore, the bye round creates a challenge for all members of a finals club, in preparation, management, training programs, and more throughout the conclusion of Round 23 and the opening of the finals.
It shows whether a great team is a great team, or whether a pretender is actually a great team underneath, or whether a great team is, in real fact, a pretender that can’t handle the pressure of finals.
Before the bye round was introduced, players, coaches, and doctors didn’t have to worry about management and preparation as much. However, with the bye round, teams, especially the winner of the qualifying finals, have to factor this into their training program to make sure they don’t lose momentum and have an 29-point win over a fellow finals team, and then go down by 47 in the first week of finals.
I strongly believe that Gillon McLachlan made a fantastic decision in placing a bye round between Round 23 and the first week of finals. It allows time for injured players to pull up for the finals, it makes the finals a more even contest, and it creates a challenge for everyone involved in a finals environment team.
mattyb
Guest
Is it worth pondering the question that the Dogs were in some ways not as advantaged by the bye as the others making their premiership even greater? In hindsight it turned out well but the Dogs did play their last home and away game on the Sunday and then their first final on a Thursday giving them only a ten day break which was a lot less than all the other finals participants. The more you look into their season the more amazing this premiership seems to be,it's quite extraordinary really.
Maggie
Guest
I know I'm labouring my point - but I am bemused by the reiteration by many of this argument. Yes the bye may help players who have been injured during the H&A but how does it help players who have the misfortune to get injured during the final series itself?
Pumping Dougie
Roar Guru
The bye leading into the finals is great for footy purists. As a football lover, I always want to see the best players playing (except when they're playing against my team). So I reckon the extra week rest earned by all teams that qualify for the finals means that we have an increased chance of seeing the best footballers on display in week 1 of the finals and throughout the finals series, which also increases the chances of seeing the best football played.
Maggie
Guest
I meant 'pre-finals' bye not 'pre-season' in above comment.
Maggie
Guest
1. You've misunderstood what I said. And the hypothetical issue of the 17th team resting players to gain no.1 draft pick won't be solved by a pre-season bye. 2. Teams that need maximum points and/or % don't (and won't) rest players during the H&A. 3. Only the strongest teams have the luxury of assuming they have 'easy' matches where they can rest players. The AFLPA's view, with which I have some sympathy, is that a second bye should be provided during the season, not at the end, for the benefit of all players not just the teams that make the finals. And I agree that ideally all the best players should be available to play when their teams do make the finals but that doesn't happen with or without a pre-season bye, as in my example of players getting injured during finals matches themselves. Sadly that's just footy, I don't see that as a reason for the bye or a solution to unfortunately timed injuries.
mattyb
Guest
I liked the pre finals bye and the concept for teams freshening up players or letting them overcome niggles is a solid one. The Dogs were well suited to the rule as they had the most players to come back but at the same time everyone got the bye. The prelim situation was as much an anomaly as anything else,especially the Geelong loss to Sydney,that was always on the.cards as Sydney did finish on top and when Geelong defeated Hawthorn there were some pretty strong indications from that game that neither were going to go all the way. The entire finals series did turn out to be an excellent one.
mattyb
Guest
Clive,why would less predictable mean not much reward for first or second?
Cat
Roar Guru
Correct sometimes
Guest
Wrong , you think upsets are something to be engineered ?
Maggie
Guest
I'm not strongly opposed to the pre-finals bye but nor am I convinced by any of your arguments for it. For a start the reason it was introduced - to stop the resting of players for the last minor round match - is only relevant when that round won't affect placings in the top eight. That may not often be the case - it certainly wasn't in 2016. The pre-finals bye is only relevant to players who will play finals football - it is no help to players in the other eight teams. Players want a second bye during the season to help players carrying injuries or simply exhausted a chance for recovery. Why is the chance to recover for the finals more important than a chance to recover earlier? It is possible in some years that an earlier bye could change the final eight composition. And why is it fair for players injured during the season to be given time to recover for the finals but not players injured during the finals? Following your logic perhaps there should be a bye between the prelim and grand finals (I am not serious but it is the same logic). It might have led to a different outcome in 2016 with one Swans player out of the grand final and three Swans players carrying injuries, all of which occurred earlier finals matches. There are many reasons for a team to fail to win the last match other than your simplistic suggestion that it is 'a pretender that can't handle the pressure'.
Penster
Roar Guru
Home ground advantage (subject to AFL stadium agreements & decisions!) and the second chance are pretty strong incentive. The bye just rests everyone.
Clive Readhead
Roar Rookie
"So this shows that the pre-finals bye round makes the finals more even and less predictable." So there is not much reward for finishing the season on top of the ladder, or second? Certainly takes away most of the incentive to finish first or second, and to be the best team or the second best team for the home-and-away season.
gyfox
Guest
Disagree 100% But planning a nice weekend away from home that weekend in 2017