Jump to content

Would you be in favour of a Wildcard Round before finals 127 members have voted

  1. 1. Would you be in favour of a Wildcard Round before finals

    • Yes
      18
    • No
      101

Please sign in or register to vote in this poll.

Featured Replies

 

If we finsh 9th in a season, then yes.

Are Richmond pork barrelling this idea?

Edited by Left Foot Snap
Added

 

I'm totally against it. It's an idea that has been stolen from American sports, particularly the NBA. I love NBA Basketball but the Finals Format is a joke. Basically they play 82 games to eliminate 10 out of 30 teams. It probably works in America where it's just a way of providing meaningless entertainment and generating lot's of income, which pretty much summarises the American psyche. Surely having 8 out of 18 teams play finals is enough. If we have a Wildcard Round there'll be more teams playing Finals than not FFS.

Of course, they've already introduced it for the VFL this year but at least there's 21 teams competing for 10 spots. It's basically close to impossible to win from outside the Top 4 now (it's happened once in the last 23 years) and if this is introduced as it applies in the VFL then the 7th to 10th sides will have to win 5 consecutive games.    

There is multiple games they roll through in the NBA play-in which makes it a bit more like a handicapped mini-tournament and there is a decent enough volume of games to make it a revenue spinner.

2 extra matches in the AFL ain’t gonna make it that meaningful on the revenue front… the other argument is it increases interest in matches at the back end of the year but it doesn’t feel like a material-enough change to bother changing what is already a pretty good system


 

 


Not in favour of it as those above have mentioned along with the fact I don't think more than half the comp should make finals, there is also more drama/emotion in sneaking into finals at 8 then getting in at 10

Only if we can give all of the teams not good enough to win 10 of their 23 games and qualify for finals through a playoff a certificate of participation in the AFL season. 

 

Hmmm...pretty much a unanimous 'No' so far.

I tend to agree but on the other hand it would prolong the joy, dreams and agony for a lot of people.

One thing is certain. Supporters sentiment will have no influence on the AFL decision. Nil.

2 games on beats a pre finals bye with none. But get rid of the bye, have a top 8 finals with a pre-gf bye instead :rolleyes: i don't care either way 

Edited by John Demonic


5 hours ago, Wizard of Koz said:

Makes no sense to me on any level other than financial.

Exactly why not have a wild card for 11 and 12 to make the 7 8 9 &10 

I know. lets just replay the whole season and see what happens

Its a complete nonsense driven by US style marketers who earn big money A big NO!!!!!

Works well in the NFL because a small number of teams qualify for the playoffs. You need a very good W L record to secure a wildcard spot.

Playing finals after winning 10 games would demean the competition. 

Terrible idea. Defeats the purpose of getting the job down during the H&A season.

Bring it on if it means there's football during the week between round 23 and week 1 finals.

The pre finals bye (and the pre season bye before round 1) is the worst part of the AFL calendar.

 


Stop ruining our game for the sake of a bit of extra revenue. FFS!

Putrid idea that makes a complete mockery of the sides who worked their butt off to make the 8.

 

just   NO !!!

Only if we revert to a top 6 with teams 5 - 8 playing in the wildcard round. Anything else just rewards mediocrity. 


So we'd like to once again become the only league in the world where 50% of the teams make finals. We complain how the season is long and have too many junk time garbage games late in the season but we'd like to have more, not all seasons have the same logjam outside the 8.

In MLB you have best of 5 and best of 7 game playoffs but a one game wildcard so there is at least a differentiator. In NBA it's 7 all the way through with a play in tournament which is too many teams as mentioned above. 

But honestly who cares what I think? I'm tried of hating on something for tradition sake that will probably just go through anyway. If they want to do it they will do it. 

To play the Devil's advocate, quite apart from the obvious financial incentives of having a longer finals season to both broadcasters and the league – which is exactly why we now have a final 8 rather than a final 4 – there are other arguments in favour of wildcard rounds.  First, it notionally provides incentive for more teams to play hard up until the end of the season, with 9th and 10th positions on the ladder worth fighting for.  Second, it provides some redress to the imbalanced fixturing.  Given that teams don't play each other twice a season, clearly some teams have easier draws than others (ignoring the fact that when you play another team is sometimes important too).  This is also true in the NBA.  So a wildcard round provides an opportunity for teams finishing 9th or 10th to perhaps demonstrate that they finished below the teams finishing in 7th or 8th position largely as a consequence of a tougher draw and that they are, in fact, the stronger team more deserving of a finals berth.

All of the above said, I would much rather the inequities in the draw be sorted out rather than reaching for the money.

I would rather go back to the final 4 the 8 is only there as a revenue raiser,I still reckon footscray pinched their GF. Imagine the frantic attempts to make the final 4 towards seasons end

 

I’m not immediately against the idea.

The impact on the NBA has been profound. More teams interested in the season for longer and less teams tanking their last couple of weeks of games.

I am not sure about how we would do it - 7 v 10 is not the equation in the NBA. 7th gets two chances to play finals, not one; it’s 7v8 and 9v10 then the loser of the first meets the winner of the second to see who gets the last spot in the finals.

If we are about to have 19 teams then I can see this being needed to keep teams interested longer.

5 finals wins in a row for a flag from 7th to 10th - why even bother? 4 wins is next to impossible now.


Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

Featured Content

  • REPORT: Collingwood

    The media focus on the fiery interaction between Max Gawn and Steven May at the end of the game was unfortunate because it took away the gloss from Melbourne’s performance in winning almost everywhere but on the scoreboard in its Kings Birthday clash with Collingwood at the MCG. It was a real battle reminiscent of the good old days when the rivalry between the two clubs was at its height and a fitting contest to celebrate the 2025 Australian of the Year, Neale Daniher and his superb work to bring the campaign to raise funds for motor neurone disease awareness to the forefront. Notwithstanding the fact that the Magpies snatched a one point victory from his old club, Daniher would be proud of the fact that his Demons fought tooth and nail to win the keenly contested game in front of 77,761 fans.

    • 1 reply
  • PREGAME: Port Adelaide

    The Demons are set to embark on a four-week road trip that takes them across the country, with two games in Adelaide and a clash on the Gold Coast, broken up by a mid-season bye. Next up is a meeting with the inconsistent Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval. Who comes in and who goes out?

    • 60 replies
  • PODCAST: Collingwood

    I have something on tomorrow night so Podcast will be Wednesday night. The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Wednesday, 11th June @ 8:00pm. Join Binman, George & I as we dissect the Dees heartbreaking 1 point loss to the Magpies on King's Birthday Your questions and comments are a huge part of our podcast so please post anything you want to ask or say below and we'll give you a shout out on the show. Listen LIVE: https://demonland.com/

      • Like
    • 21 replies
  • POSTGAME: Collingwood

    Despite effectively playing against four extra opponents, the Dees controlled much of the match. However, their inaccuracy in front of goal and inability to convert dominance in clearances and inside 50s ultimately cost them dearly, falling to a heartbreaking one-point loss on King’s Birthday.

      • Shocked
      • Love
      • Like
    • 474 replies
  • VOTES: Collingwood

    Max Gawn has an almost insurmountable lead in the Demonland Player of the Year Award ahead of Christian Petracca, Jake Bowey, Clayton Oliver and Kozzy Pickett. Your votes please; 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 & 1.

      • Vomit
      • Sad
      • Clap
      • Haha
      • Like
    • 40 replies
  • GAMEDAY: Collingwood

    It's Game Day and the Demons face a monumental task as they take on the top-of-the-table Magpies in one of the biggest games on the Dees calendar: the King's Birthday Big Freeze MND match. Can the Demons defy the odds and claim a massive scalp to keep their finals hopes alive?

      • Sad
      • Like
    • 720 replies