Fixture idea to address the annual late season floggings

[Bestbird]

For next year get rid of the pre seaon competion.


Have each team play each other in the first 17 games for 2 premiership points.

The competition then gets broken into two divisions


The top 9 sides from the first 17 games then play each other for 4 premiership points to decide the top 7 positions in order for the finals.

The bottom 9 sides also play for 4 premiership points with the top side filling the eigth position.


This gives the competition a 25 week season with the teams more evenly aligned going into the the last 3rd of the season.

leading to closer and more blockbuster games

A fair and equitable draw

The bottom teams not playing the top sides and more likely to be in finals contention deeper into the season.

 

[Squida25]

Sorry but that's stupid

 

[Ochre]

Seems fair, especially for the 8th best team

 

[GiantForce]

Horrible. Just leave it as it is! 18 teams play 22 games a season and Top 8 make the finals. simple

 

[Chasing the Dream]

The only bit I agree with is we should play round 1 -17 in a manner that means we all play each other once. Draft order to be determined at the end if Round 17.

No tanking then for the last few weeks! No point.

The rest you can keep.

 

[Hipster Doofus]

Whos next?

 

[FootyJunkie]

The only bit I agree with is we should play round 1 -17 in a manner that means we all play each other once. Draft order to be determined at the end if Round 17.

No tanking then for the last few weeks! No point.

The rest you can keep.

Tanking could still happen, just more mid-season.

 

[mollyfud]

The only bit I agree with is we should play round 1 -17 in a manner that means we all play each other once. Draft order to be determined at the end if Round 17.

No tanking then for the last few weeks! No point.

The rest you can keep.

Tanking will happen from 13-17 and then for the rest of the season as it is always best to manage the players you have rather then worrying about the potential players you might get! See if your kids can play, see where your players can play and send your players off for surgery to get them right! That to me is tanking! You can't stop it as it makes sense!

 

[Dirty Bird]

For next year get rid of the pre seaon competion.


Have each team play each other in the first 17 games for 2 premiership points.

The competition then gets broken into two divisions


The top 8 sides from the first 17 games then play each other for 4 premiership points to decide the top 7 positions in order for the finals.

The bottom 8 sides also play for 4 premiership points with the top side filling the eigth position.



This gives the competition a 24 week season with the teams more evenly aligned going into the the last 3rd of the season.

leading to closer and more blockbuster games

A fair and equitable draw

The bottom teams not playing the top sides and more likely to be in finals contention deeper into the season.

2 things

1) What happens to the 8th best side if only 7 go through from the 2nd round robin part

2) What happens to 9th and 10th if the top 8 and bottom 8 are in knockout comps and not these 2. They play 7 dead rubbers vs each other???

 

[Bestbird]

2 things

1) What happens to the 8th best side if only 7 go through from the 2nd round robin part

2) What happens to 9th and 10th if the top 8 and bottom 8 are in knockout comps and not these 2. They play 7 dead rubbers vs each other???

Oops

it is suppossed to be the top 9 sides and bottom 9 sides

The 8th and 9th side drop out to be replaced by the top side from the bottom 9

 

[simba_]

Horrible. Just leave it as it is! 18 teams play 22 games a season and Top 8 make the finals. simple

that isnt how it is and that wouldnt be good

 

[Dirty Bird]

Oops

it is suppossed to be the top 9 sides and bottom 9 sides

The 8th and 9th side drop out to be replaced by the top side from the bottom 9

ahk, fair enough
btw - what do you think about this
http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=846630

 

[piesnz]

I'll leave aside the ridiculous aspect that you're finals series will go
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
10

and ask...why is it that everyone thinks it's a great idea to punish the teams who play well. It's a competition, you should be rewarded for being better than others, not punished with a harder draw. It's really not that big a deal, blowouts happen, we don't need to eliminate it from the game.

 

[SHAKESPEARE]

 

[mollyfud]

Oops

it is suppossed to be the top 9 sides and bottom 9 sides

The 8th and 9th side drop out to be replaced by the top side from the bottom 9

So the what is the motivation to try to finish 8th or 9th and play the top teams when you could finish 10th or 11th and and face the bottom teams on the ladder for a spot in the finals?

Plus this scheme assumes if you play everyone once that makes for an even draw, it doesn't! Teams that play interstate sides away are worse off then those that face those sides in their home state!

Leave it the way it is. As fair as its going to get!

 

[Texas AFL Fan]

Soccer uses relegation which makes for interesting late season games.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

I think if you've got the top half of the competition going at each other for the last month and a half of the season, the standard in the finals would suffer.

Loving these 'I think I saw a mouse in the kitchen. Let's burn the house down to get rid of it" solutions though.

 

[Cat_Attack]

How about a 17 Round Fixture, each team plays each other once. The top 8 progress to finals and playoff in a best of 3 (1 v 8, 2 v 7, 3 v 6 and 4 v 5) with no weeks off unless you sweep a team.

The first game is played at the higher placed team's home ground and the middle game is played at the lower placed team's home ground. This would ensure the best team wins in a 25-26 week season, the same length as the standard fixture but with more "big games" for broadcasters and fans (153 regular season games and 14 minimum, 21 maximum Finals Games. Potential for 174 matches).

The bottom placed teams could have their own relegation finals or their players could take part in exhibition games (e.g. State of Origin) before having an extended pre-season in preparation for the following year.

I think this is most simple and fair. Just an idea.

 

[zero]

the "reset to ranked divisions" idea floated last year on here and then at the AFL addresses all these concerns far more cleanly.

17 rounds to start the season, one game against every other club, add one rivalry round perhaps as a compromise

then split it into 3 divisions of 6, and have them play off against each other in the last 5 rounds (teams cant move from their divisions) then play the finals just the way we always do.

top sides will be playing each other for home finals and the double chance
middle sides will be playing each other for the finals wildcard spots
bottom sides will be playing off for draft picks, with the top of the bottom division getting pick 1 and the bottom getting pick 6

the draw is even, travel commitments are even, and every game matters and is competitive, right till the very end

great for ratings, great for crowds, great for the fairness of the draw and the comp.

 

[mcgarnacle]

only way to minimise later regular season (calling it a Home & Away season is a joke) apathy is to shorten the season.

It's no different for fans. Perhaps the hardcore around here lap up any type of football dished up, but I for one have often tuned out by late July because the contenders have generally staked their claim by this time. August is such a wank with the top teams going through the motions and the cellar-dwellers clearly losing all interest. The only teams really giving it a crack are the middle of the table bottom 8 contenders who have cooked themselves by the time September comes around and are beaten by the top 4. same predictable shit season after season dressed up as elite competition. the upsets and contests are always confined to the top 4. yet like mugs, folks get hooked into the whole lead up to, and the BS that is the 1st week & 2nd week elimination finals.

but 22 games is what has been sold to the broadcasters, so 22 games is how it will remain. but under the current single table and incomplete double round robin format, it will continue to fizzle.

when the number of teams in a league is large and it's unable to schedule a double round robin format into it's season due the variables of the sport, then a grouping system is the next logical step. it may be an 'americanising' of the sport, but that is most equitable way of scheduling a season of competition. Why? because each team's performance is fundamentally compared to others within its own grouping who have played the same common opponents the same number of times. Fixed groupings also promote rivalries. It enables historically unsuccessful clubs to generate strong rivalries season after season which otherwise foster from post-season play they dont participate in. Hence, scheduling return matches of these group games towards the end of the season will encourage competition and commitment from teams.

but no, I can see how it will proceed next year. another season with certain teams playing each other twice and others just once, yet all compared to each other in the single table. highly inadequate from a professional league.

 

[Matthew2708]

This fixture idea reminds me of what used to happen from 1898 - 1900 and 1901 - 1907.

1898 - 1900: 14 rounds - each club played its competitors twice, then three rounds of ‘sectional matches’ took place, based on ladder positions at the end of Round 14. Teams one, three, five and seven played each other once in Section A. Section B followed the same pattern. Just the top team in each section played off in a finals match. The only important aspect of performances to Round 14 was top ladder placing, which entitled that club to challenge for the Premiership if it was not the winner of the ‘final’.

1901 - 1907: 14 rounds - each club played its competitors twice, then three rounds of ‘sectional matches’ took place, based on ladder positions at the end of Round 14. The results of the sectional rounds were incorporated into the existing ladder on the normal weekly basis.

 

[legend166]

the "reset to ranked divisions" idea floated last year on here and then at the AFL addresses all these concerns far more cleanly.

17 rounds to start the season, one game against every other club, add one rivalry round perhaps as a compromise

then split it into 3 divisions of 6, and have them play off against each other in the last 5 rounds (teams cant move from their divisions) then play the finals just the way we always do.

top sides will be playing each other for home finals and the double chance
middle sides will be playing each other for the finals wildcard spots
bottom sides will be playing off for draft picks, with the top of the bottom division getting pick 1 and the bottom getting pick 6

the draw is even, travel commitments are even, and every game matters and is competitive, right till the very end

great for ratings, great for crowds, great for the fairness of the draw and the comp.

There are huge problems with this.

1. The top 6 playing off between each other directly before the finals really sucks away a lot of the anticipation of the finals. Personally, I'm already annoyed that Geelong are playing Collingwood in the last round. Stupid fixturing.

2. Every time someone says there should be a play off for the top draft picks, I scratch my head. It completely goes against the purpose of the draft, i.e. give the worst teams access to the best players. Imagine we implemented the system this year (assume GWS weren't coming in next year). Port would get smashed and probably end up with pick 6 instead of pick 1. Someone like Adelaide would get pick 1. How does that make sense?

And you can't just say "well if Port played well they could get pick 1!" Because I think everyone agrees, if every team in the bottom 6 played at 100%, Port would probably still come last (maybe they'd pip the Gold Coast. They have Ablett though). Which is why they need pick 1 - they need better players.

 

[zero]

There are huge problems with this.

1. The top 6 playing off between each other directly before the finals really sucks away a lot of the anticipation of the finals. Personally, I'm already annoyed that Geelong are playing Collingwood in the last round. Stupid fixturing.

does it? i personally would love to see the best play the best to determine the final ordering. the late season 8 point games between top 4 sides, who are in good form and shaping up for finals, are some of the best games IMO. geelong collingwood this year could be a GF preview, and will give everybody a look at how the best in the comp shape up to each other.

i think you might be one of very few people who reckon coll-geel in round 24 this year is a dud fixture

R2RD is actually reasonably close to what we have now, but instead of filling in the extra rounds with blockbusters determined by the networks, its blockbusters determined by merit

2. Every time someone says there should be a play off for the top draft picks, I scratch my head. It completely goes against the purpose of the draft, i.e. give the worst teams access to the best players. Imagine we implemented the system this year (assume GWS weren't coming in next year). Port would get smashed and probably end up with pick 6 instead of pick 1. Someone like Adelaide would get pick 1. How does that make sense?

because A: it merely dilutes the effectiveness of the reverse draft order while B: eliminating tanking, giving meaning to the games played in the second half of the year and brings rightful shame to being a wooden spooner.

its an acceptable tradeoff

im my preferred model, the order would go back to normal in subsequent draft rounds.

And you can't just say "well if Port played well they could get pick 1!" Because I think everyone agrees, if every team in the bottom 6 played at 100%, Port would probably still come last (maybe they'd pip the Gold Coast. They have Ablett though). Which is why they need pick 1 - they need better players.

its impossible to say for certain they would or wouldnt win games if they had reason to win, thats merely opinion, the only thing you can say for certain is they dont have any reason to win at the moment.

under R2RD, this year port might end up with pick 6, they might not. they might play a bunch of senior bodies and really bust their nut to win some games. all the bottom division games are 8 pointers too (by virtue of being teams around them of course, not because they get 8 points) so teams can change their ladder position with just a couple of wins.

they would be playing some other pretty terrible sides in winnable games, and they would be doing it for the future of the club.

as opposed to the system now where they are playing sides alot better than them and its actually detrimental if they win.

forget about the effects on the draft for a moment: wouldnt that be a massive improvement to whats happened this year, with port copping flogging after flogging?

 

[DrEvil]

For next year get rid of the pre seaon competion.


Have each team play each other in the first 17 games for 2 premiership points.

The competition then gets broken into two divisions


The top 9 sides from the first 17 games then play each other for 4 premiership points to decide the top 7 positions in order for the finals.

The bottom 9 sides also play for 4 premiership points with the top side filling the eigth position.


This gives the competition a 25 week season with the teams more evenly aligned going into the the last 3rd of the season.

leading to closer and more blockbuster games

A fair and equitable draw

The bottom teams not playing the top sides and more likely to be in finals contention deeper into the season.

This is beyond stupid. This takes tanking to new levels as teams 8-10 will be all fighting for the 10th spot.

 

[Geelong Fella]

My idea would be to play every team once and then split the teams into 3 groups of 6 based on where they finished last season and those 5 teams would be the ones a team plays twice. E.g. Geelong would play Collingwood, Hawthorn, West Coast, Carlton and St.Kilda twice. Now obviously you might get another West Coast who go form last to 4th but generally, top 8 stays pretty similar. From the top 8 last year, only 2 teams won't play finals and Freo are very unlucky to miss with their injuries. Thoughts?