Moved Thread McGuire just doesn't get it!

[Kwality]

Eddies latest offering on the FIXture

“While the four-letter word (at the AFL) ‘Cash’ is important, the most significant four-letter word in football should be ’Hope’,” he said.

EDDIE'S WAY: ENDING THE ‘FIX’ IN THE AFL FIXTURE​

Eddie McGuire’s plan for a more equitable AFL draw.

# HOME-AND-AWAY SEASON

17 ROUNDS
All clubs play each other once.

1 RIVALRY ROUND
A rotation system for Victorian-based teams as well as Derby, Showdown, Battle of the Bridge and Q-Clash for non-Victorian clubs

1 GATHER ROUND
The newly-introduced Gather Round with the designated games drawn out of a hat, as long as the pairings are not the same as Rivalry Round.

– Cash prizemoney allocated to the clubs/players on the basis of finishing position (1-18) after 19 rounds.

# QUALIFYING MONTH
Teams divided into three sections – Top 6, Middle 6 and Bottom 6 – with each side to play three matches.

– TOP 6
Qualifying Week 1: 1x6, 2x5, 3x4
Qualifying Week 2: 5x1, 4x2, 6x3
Qualifying Week 3: 1x4, 6x2, 3x5

– MIDDLE 6
Qualifying Week 1: 7x10, 8x11, 9x12
Qualifying Week 2: 11x7, 12x8, 10x9
Qualifying Week 3: 7x12, 8x10, 9x11

– BOTTOM 6
Qualifying Week 1: 13x18, 14x17, 15x16
Qualifying Week 2: 17x13, 16x14, 18x15
Qualifying Week 3: 13x16, 14x18, 15x17
– New ladder positions finalised after those three matches.

# WILDCARD FINALS
Bottom four teams play off in two knockout games
15 v 18
16 x 17
– Losers are eliminated; winners progress.

# FINALS … TWO SEPARATE TOP-EIGHT FINALS SERIES
– The top 16 teams (including the two wildcard winners) play off in two separate finals series – with the odds and even teams in ladder position being separated. This would use the same system as now with top four teams in each series to get the double chance
Finals series 1: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15
Finals series 2: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16

# GRAND FINAL
To be played between the winner of Finals Series 1 and Finals Series 2

# TOTAL GAMES IN A SEASON: 219, three more matches than the 2023 draw.


“As it is now, we get teams who (effectively) have their seasons over so early in the year and that’s not good for the players or the fans.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/afl/afl-fixture-2023-champion-datas-indepth-analysis-for-every-team/news-story/e6c2f8c94a8cb47c6937e8b66fd40a4a

Its a try to keep all fans interested for longer SO worthy of consideration IMO.
Sure it is easy enough to criticise (ignores travel/ignores stadium agreements .... add your criticism), but is starting point IF we want change.

 

[hawkman]

So what is the point of playing 19 rounds if you could finish in 18th place and then win 3 games and conceivably qualify for finals

 

[Kwality]

So what is the point of playing 19 rounds if you could finish in 18th place and then win 3 games and conceivably qualify for finals

The better your performance the more chance you have of earning final venue ?

Eddie’s bold fixture fix revealed, with plans for bizarre wildcard finals run

Eddie’s bold fixture fix revealed, with plans for bizarre wildcard finals run

www.foxsports.com.au

 

[hawkman]

The better your performance the more chance you have of earning final venue ?

Compared to just resting key players every few weeks to ensure they are fit for finals which they are pretty much guaranteed of playing

One of his dumbest ideas which is a big achievement for him

 

[And_ROOS]

Why not just have 17 games rotating home and away each season. So take Geelong and Sydney, one year Cats play at the SCG the next year at GMHBA and so on.

Then have 3 rivalry games. Same rule as above, one year you play it at home, one year you play it away.
But the "Rival" games are broken down into; 2 games V Historical Rivals (Geelong play, for example, Melbourne and Hawthorn) and then what they deem as a new rival. Maybe Geelong get Brisbane as a "new rival" as they have played them in a few finals the last few seasons (2020 and 2022 PF) and have had some close games during the season. These rivalry matches are locked in for 4 years, or two home and away cycles. At the end of 4 years, the AFL changes those games (maybe Geelong get WBD and Essendon, and then a random third team). These matches serve to extend current rivalries but also start new ones.

Add in the "Gather Round" where games are picked at random, but do NOT include teams from the rivalry games.

Thats 21 games, have a midseason bye where 8 teams have one week off, and the other 8 have the next weekend off.

And then leading into finals 1-4 get a weeks break as reward for top 4.

During that break, teams in 5-12 play each other in a "Qualifying Round". This isn't a knock-out round, if the team in 8th is 2 games clear when this round starts then 8th can't drop out. But these games might shape the bottom half of the 8 in terms of who gets a home final, or in the case of this season would give Carlton a chance to go from 9th back into 8th, etc.

5 V 12
6 V 11
7 V 10
8 V 9

At the end of that round, the teams in 5th to 8th play finals under the current system.

 

[Kwality]

Compared to just resting key players every few weeks to ensure they are fit for finals which they are pretty much guaranteed of playing

One of his dumbest ideas which is a big achievement for him

We all know fans interest drop off when their clubs can no longer look to finals.

If addressing that is dumb (sic), I like to hear something positive from you.

Note I'm not suggesting this idea is perfect, nor am I a fan of everything Eddie has ever said.

 

[Rob]

We all know fans interest drop off when their clubs can no longer look to finals.

It's the equivalent of saying "not many people win lotto, so let's open it up and have everyone win!"

Well yes we could do that, but you'd totally devalue the worth of winning the lottery.

If everyone made the finals, who would care about making the finals?

 

[Kwality]

It's the equivalent of saying "not many people win lotto, so let's open it up and have everyone win!"

Well yes we could do that, but you'd totally devalue the worth of winning the lottery.

If everyone made the finals, who would care about making the finals?

The silliest of ideas can be the missing link to unlock the genius in someone else's good idea.

Yes you stick with an interstate version of last century State League thinking.

 

[Coolangatta]

I like the idea of waiting until everyone has played each other once to do a weighted return fixture but keep the finals system as it is.

Change to a 2x McIntyre five when there’s 20 teams, giving 1st the easier draw.

1,4,6,8,10
2,3,5,7,9