since the top 8 was introduced only 2 teams have won 4 in a row to clinch the flag

no team will win five

also look at the vfl where the two teams that won wildcard round got thrashed the next week

I think it makes the season more interesting. There are a lot of dead rubber games at the end of the year.

43 minutes ago, poita said:

In 2021 West Coast and St Kilda finished 9th and 10th with 10 win / 12 loss records and percentages in the low 90s.

It was devastating for all concerned that such deserving sides missed the finals, and it is fantastic that the AFL have acted to ensure that such heartbreaking events never happen again.

Seriously, this is yet another blatant cash grab that devalues the achievement of making finals and rewards mediocrity.

I've been to every final we've played in Melbourne for the past thirty plus years, but I won't be giving the AFL a cent to watch a wildcard game.

Can't you guys see the irony? Suddenly 7th and 8th are much lesser achievements. They need to win 5 matches, miss out on a bye and even can have the ignominy of losing a ' final' to a team that managed only 9 or 10 H&A wins. Fifth and sixth will often have a cushy opening final now and they go into week two ... now week three against an opponent that had an exhausting ding dong battle with a top two side. If you change your perspective that it's really the final six now suddenly the complaints of mediocrity disappear. Now you need to come in the top third of the ladder. None of this is perfect (extra advantages for 5th and 6th and two Mickey Mouse finals). But it ain't the end of the world at all. Now.... back to Sesame Street and the Scon...the Biscu...umm that monster that eats baked goods. 🙄

Just now, Go Ds said:

Can't you guys see the irony? Suddenly 7th and 8th are much lesser achievements. They need to win 5 matches, miss out on a bye and even can have the ignominy of losing a ' final' to a team that managed only 9 or 10 H&A wins. Fifth and sixth will often have a cushy opening final now and they go into week two ... now week three against an opponent that had an exhausting ding dong battle with a top two side. If you change your perspective that it's really the final six now suddenly the complaints of mediocrity disappear. Now you need to come in the top third of the ladder. None of this is perfect (extra advantages for 5th and 6th and two Mickey Mouse finals). But it ain't the end of the world at all. Now.... back to Sesame Street and the Scon...the Biscu...umm that monster that eats baked goods. 🙄

and 5+6th get a rest

What happened to the idea about having a bye week just before the GF?

Certainly would give the two contenders an opportunity to freshen up as well as address concussion protocol timelines.

Sorry, forgot there is no money to made that weekend by the AFL. Scratch that idea

16 hours ago, dees189227 said:

If you're not good enough to finish in the 8 then bad luck.

No one asked for this & I'm sick of trying to americanise this sport.

I'm beginning to thing greg swann is making stupid decisions.

Leave our game alone

Hey lets just give everyone a ribbon & be done with it.

It's all about money.

It's everywhere.

UCL now 8 league games as compared to 6 group stage. And additional knockout stage.

NFL highly probable to have one more regular season game. Expanded wild card round.

NBA the same with play-in.

It's all about those TV rights deals.

16 hours ago, dees189227 said:

If you're not good enough to finish in the 8 then bad luck.

No one asked for this & I'm sick of trying to americanise this sport.

I'm beginning to thing greg swann is making stupid decisions.

Leave our game alone

Hey lets just give everyone a ribbon & be done with it.

beginning to think???? I knew long ago

15 minutes ago, Go Ds said:

Can't you guys see the irony? Suddenly 7th and 8th are much lesser achievements. They need to win 5 matches, miss out on a bye and even can have the ignominy of losing a ' final' to a team that managed only 9 or 10 H&A wins. Fifth and sixth will often have a cushy opening final now and they go into week two ... now week three against an opponent that had an exhausting ding dong battle with a top two side. If you change your perspective that it's really the final six now suddenly the complaints of mediocrity disappear. Now you need to come in the top third of the ladder. None of this is perfect (extra advantages for 5th and 6th and two Mickey Mouse finals). But it ain't the end of the world at all. Now.... back to Sesame Street and the Scon...the Biscu...umm that monster that eats baked goods. 🙄

Some seasons will be fair enough. Not much separation between 7 and 10.

But what about just last season? Diabolical that a 8 win team can have a chance to beat a 14 win team.

1 minute ago, ElDiablo14 said:

Some seasons will be fair enough. Not much separation between 7 and 10.

But what about just last season? Diabolical that a 8 win team can have a chance to beat a 14 win team.

go back 2 years and a team with a losing record plays finals

2 hours ago, lorn said:

Let's just have a final eighteen

Play each time twice and the team with the most points at the end of the season is the champion.

In an ideal world we'd just have a final 6 as those outside of the top 6 have very little chance of winning the flag

But an extended season involving teams 7th - 10th placed teams appeases the broadcasters and those 4 teams and their supporters (and keeps the season alive for the neutrals as well)

Effectively making it easier for the top 6 teams in terms of rest (and being competitive)

And Rugby league no longer has a free weekend to themselves

Make no mistake, the AFL are concerned about the inroads that the NRL are making in terms of eyes on the sport (outside of those attending both sports and membership numbers)

The AFL are also putting on a State of Origin game in Perth in mid February ... the timing of that game is interesting (stealing a march on the NRL?)

16 hours ago, Dee man said:

I've done the calculations so that you guys don't have to.

IF the Demons won the five games we lost this year by 10 points or less, we would have finished the H&A season with 12 wins and...

...we still would have missed out on the Wildcard Round.

We're definitely in the conversation, though, for 2026. Maybe Steven King's finals aspirations are now within reach!

that's a stretch

4 minutes ago, ElDiablo14 said:

Some seasons will be fair enough. Not much separation between 7 and 10.

But what about just last season? Diabolical that a 8 win team can have a chance to beat a 14 win team.

But that could happen in the old set-up with 5th ; 16 wins; losing to 8th with 10.

10 minutes ago, Go Ds said:

But that could happen in the old set-up with 5th ; 16 wins; losing to 8th with 10.

It is just diabolical to think that a single digit wins team can be playing finals.

10 is at least tolerable.

16 minutes ago, Macca said:

In an ideal world we'd just have a final 6 as those outside of the top 6 have very little chance of winning the flag

But an extended season involving teams 7th - 10th placed teams appeases the broadcasters and those 4 teams and their supporters (and keeps the season alive for the neutrals as well)

Effectively making it easier for the top 6 teams in terms of rest (and being competitive)

And Rugby league no longer has a free weekend to themselves

Make no mistake, the AFL are concerned about the inroads that the NRL are making in terms of eyes on the sport (outside of those attending both sports and membership numbers)

The AFL are also putting on a State of Origin game in Perth in mid February ... the timing of that game is interesting (stealing a march on the NRL?)

Isn't the AFL comfortably ahead of the NRL?

Is that threat really daunting?

1 minute ago, ElDiablo14 said:

It is just diabolical to think that a single digit wins team can be playing finals.

10 is at least tolerable.

Theyd be cannon fodder. If they had been cruelled by injuries but now full-strength are the fourth best side it wouldn't bother me at all they're winning finals.

16 hours ago, Swooper1987 said:

It's great. Everyone complained back when 4 became 5 in a 12 team comp. Everyone complained when the 6 was introduced in 1991. The first final 8 system occurred in 1994 in a 15 team comp - yes that's right - only 7 teams didn't make finals. Fremantle and Port took the comp to 16 teams by 1997 with the removal of Fitzroy and it's stayed that way since, with some system modifications in 2000. For 25 years it's remained unchanged even though the competition now has 18 team (soon to be 19). It will help alleviate the unfairness of the fixture and it takes out the most boring weekend of the footy season.

Darn facts enter the discussion again.

Can this be made retrospective? We win the flag in '76.

7 minutes ago, ElDiablo14 said:

Isn't the AFL comfortably ahead of the NRL?

No, not at all

Australia wide, in terms of eyes on the sport (TV, cable, streaming etc) the NRL is in front)

For proof, do a thorough Google search and avoid biased articles (either way)

Here is one article ...

NRL GF wins the ratings battle over the AFL GF

Of course, in terms of revenue raised via memberships & attendees, the AFL is well in front

But here's the thing ... would Ch7 (footy) be happy about being beaten in the ratings by Ch9 (RL)?

And what if the margin blows out to 20% - 25% in terms of TV numbers etc

It's not panic stations but nonetheless, it would be a concern for the AFL

Thus, the push from the AFL to ease congestion and have way less stoppages. By the way, the NRL has way more continuous play these days with very few stoppages

League is a game designed for tv in terms of the way they line up. I’ve got some mates in Sydney who have followed league their whole lives and now find the game boring. I lived in Cronulla for a number of years and the Sharks would be playing live in front of a half full stadium while so called fans less than five minutes away watch from the pub. League is a boring game and its fans know it. We need to stop cheapening our product, stop jumping at shadows, we have a unique game, the greatest game, for the majority of AFL supporters there is no free hit, when there’s no game on we do something called life.

Wildcard weekend is cheapening the home and away season.

19 teams is diluting the talent pool even further.

I asked this a while back and got no response, how’s the AFLW going right now? So many teams so far off even being remotely competitive.

The powers that be must be stopped.

On social media I’m struggling to find anyone in support of it, on here there’s a handful of posters.

3 minutes ago, Bombay Airconditioning said:

League is a game designed for tv in terms of the way they line up. I’ve got some mates in Sydney who have followed league their whole lives and now find the game boring

What about the masses rather than your tiny sample size?

For instance, I know people in Sydney who love RL and can't get enough of it

13 hours ago, WERRIDEE said:

I thought this would help Merrett but you would need a top 16 for Essendon to make the finals.

and they finish 17th... or lose a finak

1 hour ago, Go Ds said:

Can't you guys see the irony? Suddenly 7th and 8th are much lesser achievements. They need to win 5 matches, miss out on a bye and even can have the ignominy of losing a ' final' to a team that managed only 9 or 10 H&A wins. Fifth and sixth will often have a cushy opening final now and they go into week two ... now week three against an opponent that had an exhausting ding dong battle with a top two side. If you change your perspective that it's really the final six now suddenly the complaints of mediocrity disappear. Now you need to come in the top third of the ladder. None of this is perfect (extra advantages for 5th and 6th and two Mickey Mouse finals). But it ain't the end of the world at all. Now.... back to Sesame Street and the Scon...the Biscu...umm that monster that eats baked goods. 🙄

Agree with this to an extent. It now places more of a premium on finish 5 / 6 compared to just 5 - 8. That said, I think those teams in positions 5 - 8 are usually fighting pretty hard to make sure that a) they have a top 8 position secured and/or b) they give themselves a chance to finish top 4.

In some ways, I can live with this and it does somewhat even out teams not making the top 8, because they had a harder H&A draw.

Not that it matters in a way. Finishing top 4 is still the percentage play to win a flag. Still Brisbane won it from what 5th this season - will someone win it from 9th/10th one day?

Wounder how 9thmond Tigers supporters feel about all this?

...I guess with 3 flags in the bag in the last 10 years, they probably don't care.

1 hour ago, ElDiablo14 said:

It is just diabolical to think that a single digit wins team can be playing finals.

10 is at least tolerable.

A 9 win team is not going to finish 10th.

It hasn't happened since the AFL became an 18 team league and it most certainly won't be happening in a 23 game season.

I reckon at worst an 11 win team with a good percentage finishes 10th.