Is the AFL draw

[mighty_tiger_79]

should the premiership be played over 2 years

the players cry about too much footy each year so give them when the 2 new teams are in operation

18 games one year and 18 the next, play everyone home and away

[Hondo]

should the premiership be played over 2 years

the players cry about too much footy each year so give them when the 2 new teams are in operation

18 games one year and 18 the next, play everyone home and away

It seems maybe a decent idea in theory

But the year that Geelong go 20-2 in year 1 then wait 6 months and go off the boil and some upstart wins their last 10 games in year 2 and Geelong finish 4th will be the last year you like the idea.

I don't think you can have a 6 month break in the middle of a "season". Anything could happen. Also, what do you do with the year when there are no finals.

Sorry to stomp all over your idea

[mighty_tiger_79]

just an idea for brainstorming i dont take constructive criticism personally

ok then

do we forget pre season comps and incorporate those wweeks into season proper

do we need to put teams into a group system?

[nuggety goodness]

just an idea for brainstorming i dont take constructive criticism personally

ok then

do we forget pre season comps and incorporate those wweeks into season proper

do we need to put teams into a group system?

Yes.

get rid of Preseason cup. Start of the year draw two groups of 9 teams.

play your group twice and teams in opposite group once (25 games).

Finals then crossover 1v2 and 3v4

winners of 1v2 to prelim, loser of 3v4 out

loser of 1v2 play winner 3v4

winner of those matches play prelims...

that'd work, just wouldn't be the $$$ figure the AFL want... but probably as fair as you could make it, until 5 of the best sides are drawn in the same division...

[Hondo]

I don't mind a divisional system so long as it doesn't exclude certain combinations from ever being able to play together in a GF. That's one thing I don't like about the divisional systems used in the US. 2 teams from the same conference can never play off in a superbowl (for eg).

If we step back and look at it the key issue is that the best 8 teams make the finals most of the time. Despite the draw as it currently stands do we think a team has missed the top 8 this season that shouldn't have? I don't think so. Also, no-one would argue with the top 4.

Unless we can point to a real clanger caused by the uneven draw then I don't think this is the big issue some are making it out to be. Would this year's top 8 be any different if we had 30 games? What cost on the players long term careers from another 8 games if the end result is not really that different. It's all about the finals mostly and all you need is enough games get the best 8 teams into the finals. I think 22 is enough. I think 30 is too may.

[mighty_tiger_79]

well look at collingwoods draw each year

surely they wouldve had years in which they shouldnt have made the finals but have on the default that they play 18 home games a year

what about this year, before finals last 7 games were at the G

I understand this year they deserve to be where they are, but in other years i think they may have made finals when they shouldnt have

[Voice]

the other issue is that the AFL season runs for 5 months (April-Sept) as opposed to e.g EPL which goes for 10 months (Aug-May)

the comp will never have a fair fixture until we have a full H&A season, unfortunately due to the nature of our game a 36 match season (by the time GWS and GC come in) is never gonna happen and a 17 game season with H&A fixtures spread over 2 seasons won't be enough to keep us happy...

I reckon grow the comp to 20-24 sides and run 2 divisions. then you can have a full H&A season and the best play the best week in week out, it would also stop tanking and all the likes...

however this will never happen, in a perfect world maybe...

March,April,May,June,July,August,September. I'm not super with numbers ( well, I am ) but that seems like 7 months to me.

While we're picking on him we may as well tell n.g that you only need a 34 match season for 18 teams to play eachother twice as you wouldn't have any matches against yourself

[Benchwarmer]

In a world where the contest was more important that the moolah, we would have a five or maybe a six for 18 teams as there would be the best 33% of clubs and not clubs squeezing in through pure luck.

I am man enough to admit that my side should not have been there and it would make each game important (like it used to with a 5 or 6) with the best sides there rather than 7th and 8th wasting everyone's time being there.

If, heaven forbid, we go to a top 10 like has been mooted a few months ago, I think there will be more people migrating over to the SANFL or WAFL or their local club because it is really getting quite silly now with the way the AFL are trying to squeeze more money out of everyone.

[MAY-Z]

well look at collingwoods draw each year

surely they wouldve had years in which they shouldnt have made the finals but have on the default that they play 18 home games a year

what about this year, before finals last 7 games were at the G

I understand this year they deserve to be where they are, but in other years i think they may have made finals when they shouldnt have

but of the 18 'home' games how many of them are against an interstate opponent which leads to an advantage? 2 so that ends up being 16 neutral games, 2 home advantage games, and 4 away games = net home vs away -2

compare that to adelaide for example - 10 home advantage games, 2 neutral games, 10 away games = net home vs away 0

so the so called easy draw doesnt give an overall advantage based on the fact it is always against another home team

[Trader]

well look at collingwoods draw each year

surely they wouldve had years in which they shouldnt have made the finals but have on the default that they play 18 home games a year

what about this year, before finals last 7 games were at the G

I understand this year they deserve to be where they are, but in other years i think they may have made finals when they shouldnt have

but of the 18 'home' games how many of them are against an interstate opponent which leads to an advantage? 2 so that ends up being 16 neutral games, 2 home advantage games, and 4 away games = net home vs away -2

compare that to adelaide for example - 10 home advantage games, 2 neutral games, 10 away games = net home vs away 0

so the so called easy draw doesnt give an overall advantage based on the fact it is always against another home team

True, but the other way you can look at it is games coming off of a shortened week due to travel... Collingwood 4, Adelaide 10.

[FlyingHigh]

just an idea for brainstorming i dont take constructive criticism personally

ok then

do we forget pre season comps and incorporate those wweeks into season proper

do we need to put teams into a group system?

Yes.

get rid of Preseason cup. Start of the year draw two groups of 9 teams.

play your group twice and teams in opposite group once (25 games).

Finals then crossover 1v2 and 3v4

winners of 1v2 to prelim, loser of 3v4 out

loser of 1v2 play winner 3v4

winner of those matches play prelims...

that'd work, just wouldn't be the $$$ figure the AFL want... but probably as fair as you could make it, until 5 of the best sides are drawn in the same division...

I don't mind a divisional system so long as it doesn't exclude certain combinations from ever being able to play together in a GF. That's one thing I don't like about the divisional systems used in the US. 2 teams from the same conference can never play off in a superbowl (for eg).

.

That is a pretty good idea NG.
Agree with what you are saying Hondo, perhaps a simple random lottery draw each year could be the easiest way around this.

[FlyingHigh]

In a world where the contest was more important that the moolah, we would have a five or maybe a six for 18 teams as there would be the best 33% of clubs and not clubs squeezing in through pure luck.

I am man enough to admit that my side should not have been there and it would make each game important (like it used to with a 5 or 6) with the best sides there rather than 7th and 8th wasting everyone's time being there.

If, heaven forbid, we go to a top 10 like has been mooted a few months ago, I think there will be more people migrating over to the SANFL or WAFL or their local club because it is really getting quite silly now with the way the AFL are trying to squeeze more money out of everyone.

There was a quote, pretty sure I read it in The Advertiser, that an idea the AFL are throwing around is to play some sort of wildcard entry between 8,9 & 10 for 8th spot . Now I can't see them implementing this, but does go to show their thinking.

[Dutchy]

It's mainly about the $$$$$$$$$$

Correction. It's ALL about $$$$$$$$$$$. That's all the AFL is interested in. It ceased being a legitimate sporting competition years ago.

Correct weight. And if I was CEO and on bonuses based solely on revenue I would do exactly the same.

Personally Id like to see a full H & A season and if that meant cutting down game time (15 quarters) to help recovery then so be it.

[Hondo]

An 8-9 month season (34 rounds + finals) might well kill the goose that laid the golden egg. I think the sport needs a decent amount of down time. There would also be problems with sharing stadiums with summer sports. I think even the most passionate fan would be screaming out for the 34 round season to be over already!! If you have that many rounds then you would have to consider abandoning finals in favour of the first past the post EPL style system and no-one wants that here.

If we desparately wanted this fair draw I think they would be better off cutting the season back to 17 rounds once GWS comes in. Everyone plays each other once.

But that won't happen either.

I still don't think a team will ever win a premiership or even make the top 4 on the back of a favourable minor round draw. Remember with 18 teams the number of times a team plays another twice will reduce.

[Dutchy]

Probably the closest you could get to fairness would be -

18 teams
play each other once = 17 games
Divide the previous years ladder into 1/3rds 3 groups of 6 1st-6th/7th-12th/13th-18th and they are the teams that play each other twice.

Makes it a 22 game season.

But then that wont maximise TV revenue as there may not be 2 blockbuster games per year that the AFL are committed to (showdowns, derbies, trad vic clubs)

[Q.]

LOL Dutchy, great minds think alike, I typed up that exact scenario yesterday. I wiped it though because I didn't like the idea of teams sitting 10-12th suddenly tanking so they finish in the bottom six to receive a more favourable draw the following year.

[Dutchy]

LOL Dutchy, great minds think alike, I typed up that exact scenario yesterday. I wiped it though because I didn't like the idea of teams sitting 10-12th suddenly tanking so they finish in the bottom six to receive a more favourable draw the following year.

Yeah but those teams also get good draft choices so maybe not!

We have this exact same scenario in our cricket comp a few years back, 9 teams, and you played 2 teams twice that were around you on the ladder from the previous year.

[Swooper16]

I would like to see every team play each other once and you play your main rival twice.

Eg Adel / Port, Bris / GC, Coll / Carl, Ess / Haw etc

This would at least keep the revenue / ratings / crowds up due to enough "blockbusters" and make for a fairer comp. Major issue would be that a couple of clubs might play each other twice that perhaps arent considered major rivals - eg something like WB / Stk or Nth Melb / Rich who arent considered traditional rivals but you would hope this would develop a rivalry.