So when the brakes come off, they could organise the Competition into 2 conferences.  A southern conference (including the 2 WA teams and 2 SA teams) and an Eastern conference (including the two QLD teams and the two NSW teams).  9 teams in each conference, dividing the Melb teams odds/evens based on last years ladder position (removing the interstate teams), or work it out on who played who in round one (we played West coast co we go into their conference, etc)

The AFL could then play a shortened season within the conferences, then have cross-over matches for the finals.  

This would create some sort of competition, allow a shortened fixture with lots of fan interest and allow a reasonable way of getting a winner at the end of it all.  Even better would be to cancel the result of round 1....

 

Thoughts?

30 minutes ago, buck_nekkid said:

Even better would be to cancel the result of round 1....

Sadly, all of the round 1 games will be etched into history.

So, unfortunately Spargo's 7 clangers will remain.

I like your idea otherwise, but would assume the AFL would be keen to stick to the 17 game plan that was announced prior to round 1.

If I was to take a stab in the dark, I reckon it will be a September - November home and away season spanning 13 weekends with 3 mid week games per club, in order to get the remaining 16 games in. Then December finals.

Edited March 31, 20205 yr by Bring-Back-Powell

I like the idea to assist the shortened season however I just can’t see life  getting back into a semblance of normal to facilitate footy resuming to fit in enough games. 

4 hours ago, buck_nekkid said:

So when the brakes come off, they could organise the Competition into 2 conferences.  A southern conference (including the 2 WA teams and 2 SA teams) and an Eastern conference (including the two QLD teams and the two NSW teams).  9 teams in each conference, dividing the Melb teams odds/evens based on last years ladder position (removing the interstate teams), or work it out on who played who in round one (we played West coast co we go into their conference, etc)

The AFL could then play a shortened season within the conferences, then have cross-over matches for the finals.  

This would create some sort of competition, allow a shortened fixture with lots of fan interest and allow a reasonable way of getting a winner at the end of it all.  Even better would be to cancel the result of round 1....

 

Thoughts?

I like it. I reckon there is chance they could commence a season by mid August (allowing for 3-4 week mini preseason prior to that). This is based on my guess/prediction social distancing restrictions will be eased by end of July.

Play to end November. A conference system would make that window of time feasible whilst cutting down on travel costs. 

An i reckon there woul dbe massive interest and the winner would still be regarded as a legitimate premier. No asterisk.

In some ways the winner might be lauded given the hurdles all teams will have had o overcome (so perhaps a positive asterix!) 

Mark my words they will play a season this year. We wil collectively get though this time and the AFL will need to play games to stay financially viable. Same goes for clubs like the dees.

4 hours ago, buck_nekkid said:

So when the brakes come off, they could organise the Competition into 2 conferences.  A southern conference (including the 2 WA teams and 2 SA teams) and an Eastern conference (including the two QLD teams and the two NSW teams).  9 teams in each conference, dividing the Melb teams odds/evens based on last years ladder position (removing the interstate teams), or work it out on who played who in round one (we played West coast co we go into their conference, etc)

The AFL could then play a shortened season within the conferences, then have cross-over matches for the finals.  

This would create some sort of competition, allow a shortened fixture with lots of fan interest and allow a reasonable way of getting a winner at the end of it all.  Even better would be to cancel the result of round 1....

 

Thoughts?

Brilliant stuff. But way too sensible.

The idea of locking the league into a ‘bubble’ or two ‘bubbles’ would support this, although there is still talk of getting through 17 full rounds.  Going to be fascinating how that will be achieved!

Start in August and play for 4 months. Until the end of November. That means 17 possible weekends.  Obviously have to have a top 8 so it only leaves 13 matches - plus round 1 - meaning 14 match season + finals. It might be that all games are lockouts including the grand final. Can you imagine fever temperature testing everyone before the GF. 

I like the idea that is in the OP but I could see something like that being a trial for the future of the competition. 

Covid 19 is, of course, having a big impact on our lives at the moment and I believe that this impact will be felt in the medium and long term on all areas of our lives. With regard to the AFL and footy, I can see that the AFL will emerge form this with a tighter control over the footy clubs and finances and also a relatively free hand to reshape the game.

So, what might we see?

The competition split into two conferences with the teams in each conference playing each other twice and the other conference once? Mind you, with 18 teams in the competition that would result in a season of 25 games before a final series. It would work better with 16 teams as that would result in 22 games for the season plus finals. 25 games per season would not be out of the realms of possibility as that would then justify shorter quarters and an interchange extended to 6 players. All possibilities.

Clubs may support that [censored] the additional games would provide additional income. The broadcast media would support [censored] a there would be additional games to broadcast and the players could be won over with shorter games and additional interchange and possibly retaining larger lists.

If the conferences were decided on the ladder positions at the end of H&A of the previous year, this is how it would work out.

Red conference

·        Geelong

·        Richmond

·        WC

·        Bulldogs

·        Hawthorn

·        Adelaide

·        Freo/Suns

·        Sydney

·        Melbourne

Blue conference

·        Brisbane

·        Collingwood

·        GWS

·        Essendon

·        PA

·        North

·        St Kilda

·        Carlton

·        Suns/ Freo

You might look at swapping Freo and the Suns in that case so that the two Queensland teams and the two WA teams are not in the same conference.

7 minutes ago, CHF said:

I like the idea that is in the OP but I could see something like that being a trial for the future of the competition. 

Covid 19 is, of course, having a big impact on our lives at the moment and I believe that this impact will be felt in the medium and long term on all areas of our lives. With regard to the AFL and footy, I can see that the AFL will emerge form this with a tighter control over the footy clubs and finances and also a relatively free hand to reshape the game.

So, what might we see?

The competition split into two conferences with the teams in each conference playing each other twice and the other conference once? Mind you, with 18 teams in the competition that would result in a season of 25 games before a final series. It would work better with 16 teams as that would result in 22 games for the season plus finals. 25 games per season would not be out of the realms of possibility as that would then justify shorter quarters and an interchange extended to 6 players. All possibilities.

Clubs may support that [censored] the additional games would provide additional income. The broadcast media would support [censored] a there would be additional games to broadcast and the players could be won over with shorter games and additional interchange and possibly retaining larger lists.

If the conferences were decided on the ladder positions at the end of H&A of the previous year, this is how it would work out.

Red conference

·        Geelong

·        Richmond

·        WC

·        Bulldogs

·        Hawthorn

·        Adelaide

·        Freo/Suns

·        Sydney

·        Melbourne

Blue conference

·        Brisbane

·        Collingwood

·        GWS

·        Essendon

·        PA

·        North

·        St Kilda

·        Carlton

·        Suns/ Freo

You might look at swapping Freo and the Suns in that case so that the two Queensland teams and the two WA teams are not in the same conference.

I see where the Suns and Freo play in both conferences...    That will bugger them well....   Good idea  

29 minutes ago, Ohio USA - David said:

I see where the Suns and Freo play in both conferences...    That will bugger them well....   Good idea  

Not really the idea I had in mind......

11 hours ago, CHF said:

Not really the idea I had in mind......

Dammm I thought you were serious.. I think its a good idea.....