Autopsy AFL 2016 - "Round 24" - The Big Bye - What you liked, learnt and hated

[Justinpa1]

I don'tlike it.

Gill has made his mind up, the bye will be back next year for sure.

How good would it be next year to make this weekend a Wildcard weekend.

Going on this years Finals teams

7th W Bulldogs host 10th Port Adelaide at Etihad- winner plays West Coast

8th North Melb hosts 9th St Kilda at Etihad - winner plays Adelaide.

It would be an awesome lead in to the Finals the following week.

 

[L_W_P]

I like the bye.

Give the clubs a chance to get fresh and put their absolute best on the park.

They need to fill the time better though.

Thursday Night - All Australian on FTA.

Friday night - EJ Game

Saturday night - "All Stars" game of the best players not in finals. No states, no "East v West". Sheedy vs Malthouse as coaches/selectors/promotors.

The teams can be drafted ala the NFL Pro Bowl and the game can be played in all the different states - Etihad, Adelaide Oval, Pattersons, Spotless, Gold Coast and Hobart/Launceston.

Sunday arvo - WFL All Stars game.

Monday night - Brownlow.

Then Tuesday and Wednesday the hype kicks in as the teams get named and the first final is played Thursday Night.

 

[Ron The Bear]

I don'tlike it.

Gill has made his mind up, the bye will be back next year for sure.

How good would it be next year to make this weekend a Wildcard weekend.

Going on this years Finals teams

7th W Bulldogs host 10th Port Adelaide at Etihad- winner plays West Coast

8th North Melb hosts 9th St Kilda at Etihad - winner plays Adelaide.

It would be an awesome lead in to the Finals the following week.

7th and 8th would go from 100-1 chances to 5000-1 to win the flag.

 

[precarious]

I like the bye.

A chance for all teams to freshen up for finals.

Somewhat reduces the advantage of being top 4, which as a general principle makes sense so long as the home & away season is not completely "fair". That is, the less fair the regular season, the more open the finals setup should be. Adelaide arguably had the toughest draw and missed out on top 4 by a whisker They would deserve the flag if they won from fifth.

An extra week to build up to finals.

The two games this weekend worked well I thought. From a network perspective, that is all that is really necessary, though more than two games would be fine. Friday night ratings for 7 more or less held their own (Fox down a bit).

Also think the AFL could be onto a winner with the women's game. IMO as good to watch as the men's and means more product for networks at a time when they will increasingly want live sport or other live television.

 

[Evelyn208]

Somewhat reduces the advantage of being top 4, which as a general principle makes sense so long as the home & away season is not completely "fair". That is, the less fair the regular season, the more open the finals setup should be. Adelaide arguably had the toughest draw and missed out on top 4 by a whisker They would deserve the flag if they won from fifth.

Not really. Having a break or home game Week 2 is the prize. For example this year Elim final winners need to travel Melbourne > Sydney > Melbourne or Sydney > Melbourne > Melbourne in 3 weeks (obviously if they make it to the last day). It's a huge ask and having the same break all other 7 teams get the week before doesn't really change anything.

 

[Crankyhawk]

Happy with the bye.

Also gives a chance to review/ critique the sides that have missed finals. It sort of gets lost in the finals build up.

 

[TheFridge]

Would have been the perfect week to get all that stuff out of the way and have everyone be available to attend. Plus maybe an allstar game with players from teams not in the finals?

I'd rather the introduction of a wildcard system along the lines of this weekend having two games: 7v10 and 8v9 to determine the two wildcard winners into the 8. Would keep interest in the main season longer and mean a couple of games with meaning this weekend while still addressing the AFL concern about teams resting too many players.

 

[Bokonon]

7th and 8th would go from 100-1 chances to 5000-1 to win the flag.

And the teams that earned the right to play finals have to play a knockout game against those who didn't?
Prefer a top 6 that might give every team in it a chance. It was never the case that every team had the right to play finals.

 

[flamethrower]

Liked
- freshens up the players from the top 8 which should lead to 4 cracking games
- meant that the Bulldogs didn't have to play in Perth twice within a few days

Hated
- a Thursday night final has made it almost impossible for members of the away team to attend

Learnt
- 50/50 chance that the bye weekend will be replaced by an expanded finals system

 

[The Lemon]

Love this week. Whinging campaigners who pop up on good Friday really thrive on days like this.

Ead

 

[avishka5]

Liked: the eagles have played a 3 consecutive games against top 5 sides and some of the boys are sore and the bye comes in a good time for them
Learnt: the bye is a buzzkiller and womens allstar and ej witten game does nothing to rejuvantate the finals buzz
Hated:the bye

 

[rumply]

Dumb idea is dumb

 

[Gavin Excell]

Come Said the Bye

Lets go down to the sand

 

[darkslayr425]

Isn't it required by the CBA though? i thought 2 byes were required, meaning 3 messed weeks and this?

 

[pebblestone]

This is our first time, are the nerves always like this? My employer wants to complain that I haven't been focussed at all, and next weeks not looking good either.

After all these long years... you'll be right.

As for the bye, I'm happy to wait and see. It may turn out that the quality of football played over the next month justifies the idea. Or quite possibly not.

 

[Bokonon]

After all these long years... you'll be right.

As for the bye, I'm happy to wait and see. It may turn out that the quality of football played over the next month justifies the idea. Or quite possibly not.

This was really just about you wanting to whinge we're in it, wasn't it?
Well you've done it now. Have a nice life

 

[The_Wookie]

Isn't it required by the CBA though? i thought 2 byes were required, meaning 3 messed weeks and this?

The current CBA requires only one week off. THE AFLPA would like two, and the AFL has been trying to find ways to make that happen. Why they cant just give a player a week off during the season has never been fuly clear.

 

[NeutralFan]

I don'tlike it.

Gill has made his mind up, the bye will be back next year for sure.

How good would it be next year to make this weekend a Wildcard weekend.

Going on this years Finals teams

7th W Bulldogs host 10th Port Adelaide at Etihad- winner plays West Coast

8th North Melb hosts 9th St Kilda at Etihad - winner plays Adelaide.

It would be an awesome lead in to the Finals the following week.

This!

I certainly wouldn't mind it.

 

[sportsmaniac89]

Liked: not having to worry about Freo
Learnt: the bye really is a bad idea
Hated: the bye

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

Come Said the Bye

I've been setting the mood with endless playings of The Bob Crewe Generation's smash hit of 1967, "Music to Watch Girls go Bye".

(In Diversity Round, it was Music to Watch Girls Go Bi.)

 

[Herne Hill Hammer]

The current CBA requires only one week off. THE AFLPA would like two, and the AFL has been trying to find ways to make that happen. Why they cant just give a player a week off during the season has never been fuly clear.

I quite like this idea, just limit each player to 21 games in the h&a. If a player misses due to injury that can obviously be counted as their week off. Or take it another step and get rid of that shit 3 week period in the middle of the season and limit players to 20 h&a games.

I think Geelong will account for Hawthorn fairly comfortably this Friday, but Hawthorn I'd think have been the huge winner from having the bye.

 

[Helen Wheels]

The Brad Scott Round

 

[Seeds]

Loved the bye. Going to make the finals sensational. Best rule change since they introduced the sub rule (wish they bring that back).

 

[pebblestone]

This was really just about you wanting to whinge we're in it, wasn't it?
Well you've done it now. Have a nice life

Simmer down chief. I like watching the Giants. Hope they whip the swans too. Jog on.

 

[oak79]

I don'tlike it.

Gill has made his mind up, the bye will be back next year for sure.

How good would it be next year to make this weekend a Wildcard weekend.

Going on this years Finals teams

7th W Bulldogs host 10th Port Adelaide at Etihad- winner plays West Coast

8th North Melb hosts 9th St Kilda at Etihad - winner plays Adelaide.

It would be an awesome lead in to the Finals the following week.

That's called a top 10.

You seriously want 10 of 18 teams to make the finals? Way to reward mediocrity. No thanks.