You don't get it....Are Essendon and Collingwood not div 1 opponents?
Teams that are good enough to qualify for too many finals series, regardless of how many flags they have won, cannot be Div 1. Finals opponents because they lose too many finals...
If you're not going to win the premiership, you've got to fail to qualify for finals to ensure your status as a 'Div 1 finals opponent'.
Oh, and the world began at the start of the 'TV Era'.
That's how it works in Meteoric Rise's weirdass world.