Let’s move away from football altogether and have an 18 v 18 game of British Bulldogs, 9th plays 12th and 10th plays 11th then winners play each each other for that coveted “best of the dross” position in the finals.
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BDB slapped the notion of wildcard round down in presser
That’s one coach clearly against it
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Good
95, 97, and 2009 were the last three times a team lost more than they won and made finals, 10 wins each time. It’s quite common to go 12-10 and not play finals.
For ages the finals were the top 4 (of 12), then from 1972 the top 5 (of 12), then the top 5 (of 14), then from 1991 6 (of 15). Then for a year in 1994 more teams played finals than didn’t when it changed to 8 (of 15). And it’s been 8 (of 16, 17, and 18) ever since. With the finals format changing in 2000 despite the number of teams playing finals staying the same.
Of course, changing it now would be sacrilege nothing should ever change because the league has been the same forever.
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Personally, I’d say that a 9 team finals series where 8 plays 9 in week one and everyone else has a bye would be more accurate to what the finals series was for most of the AFL era, with half the teams playing finals. With 23 games in a season now, you’d almost always have teams with a winning record in finals, which is still the case now.
If you just want to find the best team, finals could be the top 4, you’d only have one different premier in the last 20+ years and you could save the hassle of elimination, qualifying and semi-finals.
alright, here we go, i’ve solved this
the finals series becomes “winner stays on”
week 1 is 19th vs 18th. winner stays on to vs 17th the following week. etc etc etc
18 week finals series. think of the engagement metrics!!! friday night prime time year-round!!!
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And they’re totally not comparable to now – that was 8 finalists from 16 teams, not 8 from 18.
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Brad doesn’t want to be the first coach to have a 8th placed team eliminated by the 12th placed team 
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How about a competition where every team plays each other twice, once at home and once away. Just an idea. May work.
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They might have been able to find a way to do that in about 1994 but now we are probably getting closer to playing each other once (with novelty round nonsense thrown in so as not to shorten the season too much) rather than playing each other twice.
Ok. How about just having 12 teams based in Victoria. And have a proper 2nds competition that plays before the seniors.
It shouldn’t expand beyond a top 8 until there is 22 teams in the comp
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A major sporting event is starting in Australia so obviously the AFL don’t want to be kicked off the front page so suprise, surprise the Wildcard weekend story goes out
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Good. Gives everyone a chance to say what a stupid farking idea it is.
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Scott said the Bombers had comprehensively reviewed their performance following the 77-point loss to Geelong on Saturday, and he declared captain Zach Merrett’s fine for staging a “non-issue”.
“I didn’t address it with him … it’s a non-issue from my perspective, he got a lot of attention through the night,” he said.
“If they thought it was a staging free kick, it was obviously a mistake from the umpire too.”
this is pleasantly refreshing
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If he was James Hird he would be fined tens of thousands for bringing the game into disrepute speaking the truth.
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Clubs have given the AFL the green light to further explore a radical fixture overhaul loosely described as “17-6” that would see the fixture reset after each team played each other once.
The remaining six rounds leading into the finals would then create match-ups based on a team’s position on the ladder to determine the top eight.
The idea received more support than the wildcard idea that would see the pre-finals bye filled with games between teams that finished 7th to 10th on the ladder to qualify for the bottom two spots in the eight.
Leaving on a high: Joe Selwood with last year’s premiership cup.Credit: Scott Barbour
Such fixture ideas were discussed in a half-hour session during the club CEOs conference at Werribee Mansion that was led by the AFL’s CEO-elect Andrew Dillon.
Club bosses wanted the radical fixture proposal - which would not be introduced for at least a couple of years - to be looked at because, as one CEO said, according to a person in the room who preferred to remain anonymous, it was not fair that one team could finish above another team because they played weaker teams twice in a season.
This reality would not be addressed if a wildcard round was introduced with few clubs keen to reward teams with a finals spot if they finished 10th after 23 rounds.
Under the 17-6 idea, clubs would be split into three groups of six and play teams more evenly matched at the back end of the season to claim a top eight or top four spot.
Under that system, the bottom six teams would be playing dead rubbers with little incentive to finish higher on the ladder however the AFL is prepared to explore what options might make that situation more palatable.
CEO-elect Andrew Dillon chaired the CEOs conference in Werribee. Credit: Getty Images
It is not a new idea with the concept first floated at a CEOs conference in May 2015 and explored at regular intervals since. However, the fact it remains on the agenda reveals the league’s keenness to try new ideas to generate excitement, debate and entertainment for the entire season.
The NBA is introducing an in-season tournament this year which kicks off in November as they attempt to address the lull that happens within seasons.
Club CEOs said the gathering was a useful idea sharing exercise that gave the AFL clarity on what they should prioritise and an open forum for club voices.
Football department caps was an issue discussed at length on Tuesday as clubs discussed where the priorities lay with off-field spending after the cap was slashed when cuts were imposed during COVID-19. The football department cap now sits at $7.2 million, down from its height of $9.7 million.
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There has been frustration among football department staff that the rest of the industry have had their incomes restored to pre-COVID levels while in many instances, their incomes remain at the reduced post-cut level.
However, the CEOs did not discuss how much the cap should increase or whether the senior coach’s wages should sit outside the cap. They were more focused on ensuring that different priorities among each club were adequately met and identifying where additional investment should be targeted.
Club CEOs were also appraised on the state of class actions around concussions and shared potential non-football revenue earning ideas as many divest from gaming.
Who taught them maths?
If you split into 3 groups of 6 then you only have 5 games in that group.
17-5 not 17-6
Maybe the 6th game is the super dooper magic wildcard round where a win is worth 50 wins
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