22 hours ago, Demonsone said:

Pathetic & Rewarding mediocrity but also teams 7 & 8 punished as they will need to play an extra finals game hence winning a flag even harder vs the current finals system, not to mention the opposition clubs playing the wildcard winners will be able to watch an strategise

It may, de facto, mean that only the top 6, that is top third of the competition will realistically be contending, which is not a bad thing really.

Having more than half contending is an absolute $$$$ farce.

pete ryan speculates in ninefax that the broadcasters are paying up for the extra games

he estimates the following on the value of advertising to broadcasters:

Another senior competition source said a final that attracted one million viewers could attract about $1 million worth of advertising for broadcasters. Smith suggested that estimate would be the minimum, and the value might be greater depending on which teams were involved. However, the real value of the change is that it will increase the number of games that are of interest to all viewers, including, but not limited to, rusted on fans.

ultimately, as long as the broadcast rights go up, dil has done his job

On 09/11/2025 at 17:17, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Excellent and inevitable decision by the AFL.

Going to be an exciting weekend as opposed to watching 2 flies going up and down a wall on that nonsense pre finals bye.

And it’s a still top 8 finals isn’t it? The wild card weekend is technically not finals. Finishing top 6 gets you automatic entry while teams 7 and 8 Fight it out with teams 9 and 10 for the last 2 spots. I’m fine with that.

I didn't like the idea from the start and I still don't love it but it was inevitable.

However I'm deciding to embrace it. Change can definitely be a good thing and I'm tired of being a stick in the mud on these things. We constantly bemoan the number of garbage games late in the year, to think that a logjam from say 9th to 12th could fight it out for one of these spots makes it more interesting.

I can come around to it.

I look forward to the post-season discussion in 2030 when the AFL decides to bring in a "Pre-WildCard Round" for teams ranked 10th to 13th to see which one gets to play in the WildCard Round the following week.

I am old enough to remember the final four and for years now we have had a de facto final four, serious contenders know that's where you have to finish. Sure we have had some gallant exceptions. It would be interesting to see the average points difference between 7th and 10th. The idea we get to 7th by winning 3 more games than 10th but could lose to that team would be a bitter pill.

It just seems so unlikely a team will progress from 10th for it to be a real opportunity and more like a reality TV show option.

What's next in the drive for ratings, do they bring back a fan favourite team mid finals as a surprise, perhaps through a second chance café like masterchef? Or even an all-stars final series.

28 minutes ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

I look forward to the post-season discussion in 2030 when the AFL decides to bring in a "Pre-WildCard Round" for teams ranked 10th to 13th to see which one gets to play in the WildCard Round the following week.

Maybe we can get a preseason wildcard round cup? 😜

The AFL, apart from continuing to chase $s at the expense of quality, is I guess assuming that 9th and 10th will be close to 7th and 8th in final points and percentage. But what if 9th and 10th are, for argument’s sake, 3 games (12 points) shy of 8th and/or a significant percentage gap sits between them.

Then an elimination between these teams is unfair to say the least.

4 hours ago, layzie said:

I didn't like the idea from the start and I still don't love it but it was inevitable.

However I'm deciding to embrace it. Change can definitely be a good thing and I'm tired of being a stick in the mud on these things. We constantly bemoan the number of garbage games late in the year, to think that a logjam from say 9th to 12th could fight it out for one of these spots makes it more interesting.

I can come around to it.

On reflection I am now for the Wildcard round. The second half of the past season was mindlessly boring due to the lengthy conga line of dead end games. I look forward for 12/13th on the ladder in rounds 21/21 having a red hot go in an effort to move up to 10th and knocking off complacent sides which have there top four spots locked in already. Give it a few seasons it will be just normal business just like the current rubbery fixture we now have.

Not only has the AFL made a terrible decision, they've also managed to mangle its implementation.

The majority public outrage tells you that this is not what fans want. Sure, some people like @Bring-Back-Powell can't get through a week without watching football, but for the rest of us, we want finals to mean something. Now you can finish 10th, in the bottom half of the competition, and make finals.

They had the chance to say these wild card games weren't finals, to make the top 6 seem like a feat, but they haven't done that. 10th is a finalist. 10th having a rubbish year but playing a blinder against 7th credits them with a finals win.

It is of course clear that the decision is purely monetary. You hear it when people like Greg Swann talk about it - they mention that it's good for revenue, good for broadcasters, etc. It's no wonder Kane Cornes and Gerard Whateley are so in favour of it - it means they make more money!

The AFL makes a lot of bad decisions, but I can't recall the last time they treated the fan base so poorly. Knowing the (vast) majority don't want this, but shoving it down our throats anyway, and then gaslighting us by telling us we don't know how good it's going to be.

On 10/11/2025 at 15:44, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Exactly my 2 cents worth as well.

Although I seem to be in the minority and am actually excited to have a couple of high stakes games on the last weekend of August, as opposed to nothing. I guess I like watching football…

Of all the arguments that get put in favour of it, this is probably the worst one.

Got a problem with the pre-finals bye?

GET RID OF IT!

It shouldn't be there anyway, it should be the week before the GF, but if the problem is that we don't want a week off between the H&A season and finals, the AFL has the power to just get rid of it.

Absolutely moronic reasoning here.

4 hours ago, William said:

The AFL, apart from continuing to chase $s at the expense of quality, is I guess assuming that 9th and 10th will be close to 7th and 8th in final points and percentage. But what if 9th and 10th are, for argument’s sake, 3 games (12 points) shy of 8th and/or a significant percentage gap sits between them.

Then an elimination between these teams is unfair to say the least.

A bit like this year? When Sydney finished 10th on 12-11 and 97% but would have made finals and got to have a crack at Gold Coast, who were 15-8 and 124.9%?

If GC had not choked and beaten Port in Round 24, 7th would have been Fremantle, who were 16-7 and would have been percentage out of the top 4 and one win off 2nd. But Sydney, who barely broke even on the year, would have been gifted a chance to knock them out.

[censored] me.

Edited Tuesday at 05:193 days by titan_uranus

37 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

Not only has the AFL made a terrible decision, they've also managed to mangle its implementation.

The majority public outrage tells you that this is not what fans want. Sure, some people like @Bring-Back-Powell can't get through a week without watching football, but for the rest of us, we want finals to mean something. Now you can finish 10th, in the bottom half of the competition, and make finals.

They had the chance to say these wild card games weren't finals, to make the top 6 seem like a feat, but they haven't done that. 10th is a finalist. 10th having a rubbish year but playing a blinder against 7th credits them with a finals win.

It is of course clear that the decision is purely monetary. You hear it when people like Greg Swann talk about it - they mention that it's good for revenue, good for broadcasters, etc. It's no wonder Kane Cornes and Gerard Whateley are so in favour of it - it means they make more money!

The AFL makes a lot of bad decisions, but I can't recall the last time they treated the fan base so poorly. Knowing the (vast) majority don't want this, but shoving it down our throats anyway, and then gaslighting us by telling us we don't know how good it's going to be.

It’s effing sports entertainment and been so for a long time. No use moralising on a high horse. It’s WWE with an oval ball. Once all the froth and bellowing is over, the fans will love it because most are of simple tribal tastes. The AFL is giving fans more of what they want and that’s more contests and blood and guts.

Edited Tuesday at 06:083 days by John Crow Batty

Eleventhmond just doesn't have the same ring.

3 hours ago, titan_uranus said:

Not only has the AFL made a terrible decision, they've also managed to mangle its implementation.

The majority public outrage tells you that this is not what fans want. Sure, some people like @Bring-Back-Powell can't get through a week without watching football, but for the rest of us, we want finals to mean something. Now you can finish 10th, in the bottom half of the competition, and make finals.

They had the chance to say these wild card games weren't finals, to make the top 6 seem like a feat, but they haven't done that. 10th is a finalist. 10th having a rubbish year but playing a blinder against 7th credits them with a finals win.

It is of course clear that the decision is purely monetary. You hear it when people like Greg Swann talk about it - they mention that it's good for revenue, good for broadcasters, etc. It's no wonder Kane Cornes and Gerard Whateley are so in favour of it - it means they make more money!

The AFL makes a lot of bad decisions, but I can't recall the last time they treated the fan base so poorly. Knowing the (vast) majority don't want this, but shoving it down our throats anyway, and then gaslighting us by telling us we don't know how good it's going to be.

It’s an outstanding decision by the AFL to bring this in.

I’m actually quite amused by the amount of people outraged by a decision that was extremely inevitable and one that nobody will bat an eye lid come next season.

The inequities in the fixturing was the core reason that corbin middlemas was promulgating the idea mid season. I've come around to it like a few others.

Why should double up games decide ladder positioning? Why should Collingwoodg sneak into 8th ahead of us because we had to play Geelong at gmhba and they didn't? At least opening up 2 extra spots will give two extra teams the chance of proving themselves against lucked out clubs above them

More the reward for finishing 5 and 6 in this new system too. We'll see how the bye inequity impacts week 2, but I think the AFL could improve things with some kind of round 18-20 bye rounds to mitigate that.

Edited Tuesday at 10:372 days by John Demonic

1 hour ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

It’s an outstanding decision by the AFL to bring this in.

I think you might be well and truly in the minority on this issue.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-10/nobody-seems-to-want-an-afl-wildcard-round-so-why-is-it-here/105990976

10 hours ago, John Demonic said:

The inequities in the fixturing was the core reason that corbin middlemas was promulgating the idea mid season. I've come around to it like a few others.

Why should double up games decide ladder positioning? Why should Collingwoodg sneak into 8th ahead of us because we had to play Geelong at gmhba and they didn't? At least opening up 2 extra spots will give two extra teams the chance of proving themselves against lucked out clubs above them

More the reward for finishing 5 and 6 in this new system too. We'll see how the bye inequity impacts week 2, but I think the AFL could improve things with some kind of round 18-20 bye rounds to mitigate that.

This doesn’t solve the problem you’re raising here.

Double up games may still decide 6th vs 7th, and now the same argument will apply to 10th vs 11th.

With this change - making finals no longer seems like an achievement, with most teams making it.

Definition of wildcard -

an opportunity to enter a sports competition without having to take part in qualifying matches or be ranked at a particular level

Can we get Dillon a dictionary??

2 minutes ago, William said:

The AFL, apart from continuing to chase $s at the expense of quality, is I guess assuming that 9th and 10th will be close to 7th and 8th in final points and percentage. But what if 9th and 10th are, for argument’s sake, 3 games (12 points) shy of 8th and/or a significant percentage gap sits between them.

Then an elimination between these teams is unfair to say the least.

Finally some logically comments.

If we finish 7 th and get knocked out of finals by a team in 10 th that had three or more losses than us which will of course happen, I'll explode.

I'm 100 % for it every season we finish 9 or 10 though.

Otherwise get rid of it

Edited Tuesday at 21:462 days by Previously known as LITD.

35 minutes ago, Previously known as LITD. said:

Finally some logically comments.

If we finish 7 th and get knocked out of finals by a team in 10 th that had three or more losses than us which will of course happen, I'll explode.

I'm 100 % for it every season we finish 9 or 10 though.

Otherwise get rid of it

But LITD wouldn't it just be better to win that game and prove our worth?

Edited Tuesday at 22:202 days by layzie

Rewarding the 9th and 10th placegetters reminds me of this:

104-Year-Old Man Awarded WWII Medal Just To Be Nice - The Onion

The AFL starting becoming Coca Cola-like decades ago. i.e. It's all about the money

The strange move was leaving a weekend free prior to the finals from 2016 onwards

And because the Bulldogs had that fairytale win in 2016, most went along with the bye weekend as a consequence

But I always thought we were giving the NRL a free hit. And now that the NRL has gained ground and in fact, is starting to out-rate the AFL, hey presto, no more weekend bye

The AFL is a business and this is a business move. Not sure anyone genuinely believes the move is to give more teams a chance at the flag.

It's all about the money, not just for the 2 extra finals but to keep the supporters engaged in the 4th part of the season proper

And also, to make sure that the AFL is in true competition mode against the NRL

The AFL vs the NRL is not a talking point but it should be

V'landys is out to win the battle

5 minutes ago, Macca said:

The AFL starting becoming Coca Cola-like decades ago. i.e. It's all about the money

The strange move was leaving a weekend free prior to the finals from 2016 onwards

And because the Bulldogs had that fairytale win in 2016, most went along with the bye weekend as a consequence

But I always thought we were giving the NRL a free hit. And now that the NRL has gained ground and in fact, is starting to out-rate the AFL, hey presto, no more weekend bye

The AFL is a business and this is a business move. Not sure anyone genuinely believes the move is to give more teams a chance at the flag.

It's all about the money, not just for the 2 extra finals but to keep the supporters engaged in the 4th part of the season proper

And also, to make sure that the AFL is in true competition mode against the NRL

The AFL vs the NRL is not a talking point but it should be

V'landys is out to win the battle

These are good points (although I don't believe Wildcard is the right move) but can I just fact-check the statement, "the NRL has gained ground and in fact, is starting to out-rate the AFL"? Hasn't the NRL been outrating AFL on FTA and pay-TV for many years?

1 hour ago, layzie said:

But LITD wouldn't it just be better to win that game and prove our worth?

Hi L

Great to hear from you.

I'm not sure what exactly you.mean.

Are you in favour of this new idea.

My take on it means that finishing 7 or 8 means you haven't finished.

You have to play another game to determine where you finish. While the other teams rest.

Am I right in this?

Isn't it a case of really making a final ten?

Just named differently?

Please correct me if I'm wrong but does this scheme mean after the h and a games all finals teams rest but for 7 and 8 and need to play again to see if they are actually finalists.

If this is the case I suggest that we will never see a team finishing 7 th or 8th before the WC game, win a cup

Or just as bad by sheer luck and a few cases of sever food poisoning, the tenth team in 50 years knocking off the minor premiers.

It just seems to make it harder for 7 and 8 but nobody else. Or easier if you will for the others in six and above.

Does having a final ten in a comp of 18 seem right,?

Wildcard is just a fancy name to effectively make it so.

And all through the year what would be the point of a ladder revealing only the top eight. It's inaccurate when two other teams are in the mix.