As we move towards round 23 it is obvious that almost all if not everyone of the positions for the top 8 will be up for grabs in some way or another.

No need to worry about teams not turning up.

So we have a bye and lose the momentum of the season. Not a good decision.

I am sure there could have been some other solution to the "game playing" of 2015 other than a bye.

Agreed. Shocking knee jerk reaction from Dill. 

 

1 minute ago, Sir Why You Little said:

Agreed. Shocking knee jerk reaction from Dill. 

 

Shocking, yet somehow none of us are shocked.

All teams will go in fresh, it's great.

The only downside could be top four teams will potentially only play a couple of games before a grand final.

The Brownlow should be moved to this week as well.

21 minutes ago, ArtificialWisdom said:

Shocking, yet somehow none of us are shocked.

Correct. Brad Scott gave us this bye

 

Yep, Brownlow back to first week of finals   

31 minutes ago, Diamond_Jim said:

As we move towards round 23 it is obvious that almost all if not everyone of the positions for the top 8 will be up for grabs in some way or another.

No need to worry about teams not turning up.

So we have a bye and lose the momentum of the season. Not a good decision.

I am sure there could have been some other solution to the "game playing" of 2015 other than a bye.

What is it then genius?

While they rig the fixture as much as possible, the AFL still can't predict what the final round of the season will look like.  This year is the first that I can remember where basically all games mean "something".  If it has eliminated the need for finals bound teams to rest a heap of their players, then I'm all for it.

Imagine this scenario...going in to the last round we were 8th and were on the same amount of points as 9th.  We were playing 7th place, and the 9th team were playing the top team (who were 2 games clear, and in no way able to lose top spot).  Our game (vs 7th) will be full strength v full strength, but the top team would rest a heap of players, allowing the 9th team to play a weakened opponent.  Could cost us a spot in the finals.

Swings and roundabouts.  This year it may work against us, but next year it could work for us.  Reality is, the AFL felt they needed to try something to stop top teams fielding a weakened team in the week before finals.

But as I said in my first line, if there is a better solution, what is it?

Tanking was NEVER an issue, not even spoken about until Big $'s & Betting have infected the game. 

The AFL are so conflicted today

52 minutes ago, Clint Bizkit said:

All teams will go in fresh, it's great.

The only downside could be top four teams will potentially only play a couple of games before a grand final.

The Brownlow should be moved to this week as well.

This is a big downside 'Clint'...

I remember when playing local footy we had clearly the best team in the competition but the way the draw worked we only had 2 games over a 5 week period and lost the GF. The loss of momentum was a huge disadvantage and will be this year.

It might be the year to miss a top 4 spot and win the GF.

I think it was 2005 we scraped into the finals after some late year heroics- only to collapse after exhausting ourselves physically and emotionally just to get there.

The bye could be a huge blessing for us if everything else goes our way.

If youre in a position to rest players then good on you.

Dont like the week off.

Especially dont understand having the last round as a floating round if youre gonna have a week off before finals

34 minutes ago, biggestred said:

If youre in a position to rest players then good on you.

Dont like the week off.

Especially dont understand having the last round as a floating round if youre gonna have a week off before finals

Two sides to this coin mate.

If the heat wasn't on the top 7 jostling for a top 4 spot as it is and we were relying on GWS to spank Norf in the last round but GWS was in the clear (say guaranteed 2nd possie) and therefore rested a heap of players and Norf got up therby denying us? Dread the thought!

Field your best team and have them play to their merits no matter what round it is. If you don't it should be classified as tanking and tampering with the Finals. If the AFL policed this rather than waiting to react we'd not be in the current scenario.

1 hour ago, rjay said:

This is a big downside 'Clint'...

I remember when playing local footy we had clearly the best team in the competition but the way the draw worked we only had 2 games over a 5 week period and lost the GF. The loss of momentum was a huge disadvantage and will be this year.

It might be the year to miss a top 4 spot and win the GF.

The minimum any team will play is 3 in a 5 week period here though, and no team has to sit out two weeks in a row.  Your team must have missed two weeks in a row somewhere unless I've stuffed up, which was surely the biggest momentum killer? 

So while that was a pretty unsatisfactory outcome for your team, it's not going to be that drastic here.  It will also take the edge off the top 4 advantage of having a rest week after the first week of the finals - it's a big part of the reason why nobody in the current finals format has ever won a flag from 5-8 (and not just because they're not good enough) - those teams come up against a top 4 side who have had their feet up for the week, while the 5-8 teams busted a gut the week before in the semi.  

2 minutes ago, Nasher said:

The minimum any team will play is 3 in a 5 week period here though, and no team has to sit out two weeks in a row (your team must have missed two weeks in a row somewhere unless I've stuffed up).  So while that was a pretty unsatisfactory outcome for your team, it's not going to be that drastic here.  It will also take the edge off the top 4 advantage of having a rest week after the first week of the finals - it's a big part of the reason why nobody in the current finals format has ever won a flag from 5-8 (and not just because they're not good enough) - those teams come up against a top 4 side who have had their feet up for the week, while the 5-8 teams busted a gut the week before in the semi.  

Yep, it's going back a bit now but from memory we had at least a 2 week break.

Say the Hawks win their first final they could have 2 by 1 week breaks though which could make things hard to get on a bit of a roll.

1 minute ago, rjay said:

Yep, it's going back a bit now but from memory we had at least a 2 week break.

Say the Hawks win their first final they could have 2 by 1 week breaks though which could make things hard to get on a bit of a roll.

I think it just offsets the massive advantage they already had against the 5-8 team in the Prelim.  It just brings them back to the pack rather than crippling them, per se.

Personally, I hope this whole thing is a moot point because Borethorn go out in straight sets

23 minutes ago, McQueen said:

Two sides to this coin mate.

If the heat wasn't on the top 7 jostling for a top 4 spot as it is and we were relying on GWS to spank Norf in the last round but GWS was in the clear (say guaranteed 2nd possie) and therefore rested a heap of players and Norf got up therby denying us? Dread the thought!

Field your best team and have them play to their merits no matter what round it is. If you don't it should be classified as tanking and tampering with the Finals. If the AFL policed this rather than waiting to react we'd not be in the current scenario.

Very good point.

Why is our game any different to any other major sport around the world.

To my knowledge none of the EPL, NFL, NBA or NRL have byes after the last rounds.

Sure the NFL has wildcard play offs in the first round but that is no different to our week off for the winners of the matches between the top four. The week off before the Super Bowl is mainly due to scheduling reasons and rewarding the city who hosts the event with a week of events. Because of the NFL Conference system many teams wrap up top place in their conference weeks before the end of the season but no one complains.

In the EPL the management of teams between all the competing trophies (Top of table, FA Cup, Champions League etc) is an art.

Also what about the teams that send off their key players for surgery around Round 18 thus weakening their chances of "shaping the 8:

I just see it as an over reaction to a one off year. (if in fact it does help the teams at 5-8 it won't be long until the power houses complain that they are not being sufficiently rewarded for top place !!!)

It is not  a big issue but I see it as "own goal" by the AFL.

2 hours ago, billy2803 said:

Reality is, the AFL felt they needed to try something to stop top teams fielding a weakened team in the week before finals.

They might have felt that, but they were completely wrong.

52 minutes ago, McQueen said:

Two sides to this coin mate.

If the heat wasn't on the top 7 jostling for a top 4 spot as it is and we were relying on GWS to spank Norf in the last round but GWS was in the clear (say guaranteed 2nd possie) and therefore rested a heap of players and Norf got up therby denying us? Dread the thought!

Field your best team and have them play to their merits no matter what round it is. If you don't it should be classified as tanking and tampering with the Finals. If the AFL policed this rather than waiting to react we'd not be in the current scenario.

If we were in that position we'd have no one to blame but ourselves for losing unloseable matches earlier in the year. Take care of the wins early and you won't sweat on results in the final round.

If we get there, it'll mean we can put everything into the Geelong game and then have a week off to freshen up. I don't have a problem with the week off TBH.

2 hours ago, rjay said:

we only had 2 games over a 5 week period and lost the GF. The loss of momentum was a huge disadvantage and will be this year.

It might be the year to miss a top 4 spot and win the GF.

Bye Bye Hawthorn then? Can only be a good thing this year. It would be incredible if a BYE sunk the 4pete. Though their insufferable fans would make excuses for a year.

However! If WCE beat Hawthorn this weekend, the Hawks might be the ones that win a premiership because of the BYE. 

A huge, clumsy, top-down solution to an issue that has surfaced once or twice in 150 years of footy.

So, a signature AFL move really.

26 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

They might have felt that, but they were completely wrong.

Completely wrong?

Then you followed it up with this beauty...

26 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

If we were in that position we'd have no one to blame but ourselves for losing unloseable matches earlier in the year. Take care of the wins early and you won't sweat on results in the final round.

You clearly are showing a high level of ignorance on this topic.

4 hours ago, Sir Why You Little said:

Agreed. Shocking knee jerk reaction from Dill. 

 

THE AFL HAS CREATED A PRECEDENT THIS YEAR IN THAT IT HAS, FOR SOME REASON, DECIDED TO GIVE ALL TOP 8 FINALISTS A WEEK OFF BETWEEN THE LAST ROSTER GAME AND THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE FINALS SERIES.

I BELIEVE THIS GIVES TEAMS FINISHING FROM FIFTH TO EIGHTH A WELCOME BREAK , WHICH WILL CERTAINLY HELP THOSE TEAMS RECOVER FROM WHAT WILL BE AN ENERGY SAPPING LEAD UP TO THE FINALS AND AN ADVANTAGE THEY WOULD NOT NORMALLY HAVE RECEIVED. (Good for Dees if we make it)

TEAMS FINISHING IN THE TOP FOUR WILL NOT ENJOY THE SAME ADVANTAGE AS PREVIOUS TOP FOUR CONTENDERS, BY VIRTUE OF THE FACT THE WINNERS WILL PROCEED DIRECTLY TO THE PRELIMINARY FINALS, WHICH IN PAST YEARS HAS GIVEN THEM THE ADVANTAGE OF A TWO WEEK REST WHICH WAS REWARD FOR FINISHING TOP FOUR.
.
UNDER THIS YEAR'S FORMAT, THOSE TWO TEAMS WILL ONLY HAVE PLAYED TWO MATCHES IN VIRTUALLY FOUR WEEKS.
THIS IS NOT A GOOD FORMULA FOR RETAINING THEIR VERY TOP MATCH FITNESS.

THE SYSTEM WILL FAVOUR MORE THAN BEFORE THE TEAMS FINISHING FIFTH TO EIGHTH.

I WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED TO SEE A TEAM OUTSIDE THE TOP FOUR ADVANCE TO THIS YEAR'S GRAND FINAL, WHICH HAS NOT HAPPENED IN RECENT AFL HISTORY.

THE AFL'S ATTEMPTS TO COUNTERACT TEAMS THAT FIELDED VERY WEAK SIDES IN THE LAST ROUND OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS IN ORDER TO REST THEIR BEST PLAYERS IS A WEAK ONE AND NOW ASSISTS TEAMS WHICH DO NOT MAKE THE TOP FOUR. TEAMS FINISHING IN THOSE POSITIONS EARNED THEM OVER A GRUELLING TWENTY TWO ROSTER GAMES AND SHOULD NOT NOW LOSE THAT ADVANTAGE.

Coaches want pre-finals bye banished
(August 5th.,2016)

EVERY one of the AFL's senior coaches is against the post-round 23 bye, which was introduced as a measure to prevent controversial selection tactics on the eve of the finals.

The bye actually will give an advantage to the teams 5-8, as they have to play 4 weeks to win it. With that, watch the bye go when a team finishing 5-8 wins it.

In that vein, I hope the team finishing 8 wins it this year!  Could be shades of the 1900 & 1998 premierships, both these winners caused the system to change.