The extra week off for QF winners - good or bad?

[catstorm]

Geelong are notoriously bad off byes, so if they did manage to win the QF and went straight into another bye well let's just say I have my doubts.

 

[iluvparis]

Geelong are notoriously bad off byes, so if they did manage to win the QF and went straight into another bye well let's just say I have my doubts.

How many prelims have you lost after a week off?

 

[catstorm]

How many prelims have you lost after a week off?

None obviously, but that hasn't happened since 2011 and this Geelong team has lost its last 6 games in a row off byes.

 

[StillAtLarge]

Based on what?

Do you think QFs will be a battle between two teams trying to lose then?

No, but if my memory serves me correctly qf winners often start their prelims sluggishly before running out the game strongly. I don't think the opposition sides playing their 3rd consecutive finals game will be anywhere near as fatigued as previous years, thus nullifying the advantage of the qf winners.
Also, footballers playing just one game in 3 weeks will lose a lot of 'touch', you can't replicate match conditions at training. I guess we're all just speculating as to what may happen but it's going to be an intriguing september/october.

 

[iluvparis]

Personally I think people are massively overthinking it and the impact will be minimal.

 

[footyfan1978]

In time I watched teams won 1979, 1981 , 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1989 grand finals by having a bye in week one and three of finals series.
So on grand final day they had only played 1 game in previous 3 weeks.
However it should be remembered the flipside of that is the other team has not had a rest for months.

We are in unknown territory in 2016 by the fact all teams in finals will have had a break before their first final.
To me this means it will make the task of winning 4 finals in a row from 5th to 8th, the easiest it has ever been. So for mine, all bets are off this season as in expecting to know how things should pan out.
Top 4 will still be better chance but think less so than previously.

...and now the two winners of the qualifying finals are gone.
Unknown territory indeed.

 

[Furn2]

None obviously, but that hasn't happened since 2011 and this Geelong team has lost its last 6 games in a row off byes.

Didn't u just beat hawthorn off a bye ?

 

[JackOutback]

Personally I think people are massively overthinking it and the impact will be minimal.

Perhaps not.

Think the AFL has a lot to answer for. On the one hand, while I appreciate the more exciting finals series, I think a reactionary rule change nullified the advantage of top four/winning the prelim.

Dollars to doughnuts it's gone next year.

 

[catstorm]

Didn't u just beat hawthorn off a bye ?

lol I wrote that before the Hawks game.

 

[FootyJunkie]

Think the AFL has a lot to answer for.

AFL are flawless, remember. They are never wrong.

Giants and Cats will probably band together to put pressure on the league to get rid of the bye.
All the naysayers were right... that bye was going bite back.

 

[Nuggets73]

It is an extremely tight top 8 this year that i think it will be a hindrance. Whoever has finally got some momentum near the end of the season will have had it stopped.
The loser of a qualifying final or someone from outside the top 4 will win it imo.

QF winners were significantly disadvantaged by the bye ... One match in 28 days is a joke, hardly "battle hardened"

 

[Whiskers]

QF winners were significantly disadvantaged by the bye ... One match in 28 days is a joke, hardly "battle hardened"

Appreciate the quote, good to see I get things right occasionally.
Although a stopped clock is right twice a day.

 

[greatwhiteshark]

There is good reason every year what if questions arise, the fixture can benefit or hurt teams and be the difference where you finish on the ladder.
Geelong for example this year were the only side in the top 8 to play Essendon and Brisbane twice, those 8 points and percentage are the difference between finishing 2nd and 8th. I am not knocking Geelong but that is what the fixture does these days.
We can't play every team twice so every year we will end up with these what if's.
Does the best side in the comp win the flag every year? One would like to think so but there is going to be always questions in a comp fixtures as it is. There is no solution so that is just the way it is.

 

[Whiskers]

AFL are flawless, remember. They are never wrong.

Giants and Cats will probably band together to put pressure on the league to get rid of the bye.
All the naysayers were right... that bye was going bite back.

GWS should, cats won't. We will be finishing in the lower part of the 8 from here on.

 

[Whiskers]

There is good reason every year what if questions arise, the fixture can benefit or hurt teams and be the difference where you finish on the ladder.
Geelong for example this year were the only side in the top 8 to play Essendon and Brisbane twice, those 8 points and percentage are the difference between finishing 2nd and 8th. I am not knocking Geelong but that is what the fixture does these days.
We can't play every team twice so every year we will end up with these what if's.
Does the best side in the comp win the flag every year? One would like to think so but there is going to be always questions in a comp fixtures as it is. There is no solution so that is just the way it is.

To be fair we also got GWS, Dogs and Crows twice. 3 of the most impressive sides this year.
We were pretty ordinary against lower sides this year.

 

[BallaratBulldog]

Geelong and GWS did not lose because of the bye. They were not good enough.

 

[greatwhiteshark]

To be fair we also got GWS, Dogs and Crows twice. 3 of the most impressive sides this year.
We were pretty ordinary against lower sides this year.

Wasn't knocking you mate, just stating that those two wins got you to 2nd probably. Next year the Eagles and North drop into that 2nd group of 6 teams so it's possible one of them may jump into top 4.
My point is the fixture is terrible and ladder positions are determined by who you play, where you play them and how many times you play teams.
A football comp you should end up where you do based on what you do and every other side doing the exact same thing.
With 18 teams than can't happen so we have to live with question marks every year, these types of threads and there is heaps of them only appear because of the fixture. If everyone played each other twice then they would never come up.

 

[greatwhiteshark]

Geelong and GWS did not lose because of the bye. They were not good enough.

That is the logical answer and because it can't be answered any other way it is what it is, the problem is we actually don't know if the bye did effect them.
Do you think the bye helped you guys get ready for your first final? I am not saying you would not of won as you have been brilliant but you simply can't say it didn't help you.

 

[BallaratBulldog]

That is the logical answer and because it can't be answered any other way it is what it is, the problem is we actually don't know if the bye did effect them.
Do you think the bye helped you guys get ready for your first final? I am not saying you would not of won as you have been brilliant but you simply can't say it didn't help you.

The bye helped us get Libba, Wood and Macrea to the first final. But GWS were few goals in front halfway through the last and couldn't hold on and Geelong had so many inside 50s that they failed to capitalise in.

 

[greatwhiteshark]

The bye helped us get Libba, Wood and Macrea to the first final. But GWS were few goals in front halfway through the last and couldn't hold on and Geelong had so many inside 50s that they failed to capitalise in.

So you agree it did help you guys, then it is possible yes it didn't help other sides? Just saying it's not black and white as you said.
Good luck next weekend, happy for you guys and wish you well.

 

[JackOutback]

Momentum is a difficult thing to calculate. I personally think the Eagles' momentum was hurt by the bye. That's not to say the Doggies wouldn't have won if there hadn't been a bye, they were damn impressive that night. But it's dangerous to flirt with form and in this case, it's the AFL doing the flirting.

 

[jezza1435]

Personally I think people are massively overthinking it and the impact will be minimal.

Really

 

[Taylor]

If Geelong had used the ball better they would have won.

It was one straight kick out of 25 goals that separated the Dogs and Giants.

Elite performance coaches can keep them fit, if they can't keep their head in the game then its another area that elite teams will work on for an advantage

 

[10571z]

There is good reason every year what if questions arise, the fixture can benefit or hurt teams and be the difference where you finish on the ladder.
Geelong for example this year were the only side in the top 8 to play Essendon and Brisbane twice, those 8 points and percentage are the difference between finishing 2nd and 8th. I am not knocking Geelong but that is what the fixture does these days.
We can't play every team twice so every year we will end up with these what if's.
Does the best side in the comp win the flag every year? One would like to think so but there is going to be always questions in a comp fixtures as it is. There is no solution so that is just the way it is.

This. They had an easy draw and were shown up.

Both teams got beaten by better opposition. Simple

 

[DaVillaBlues]

Geelong lost to Carlton this year, I seriously doubt they would have troubled The Swans, even without the bye.

Look at the quality of personal between The Swans and Cats.

IMHO The Cats snuck into the Top 4 only because of their massive Kardinia Park home ground advantage, and were lucky to beat an bruised and aging Hawthorn in week one.

People on the Carlton board can tell you this, but I never once considered them to be a legit flag contender all year, there are simply too many battlers/plodders in that team to have posed a serious flag challenge.