Idiotic bye week pre finals to stay in 2017

[saintspremiers]

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/a ... n.htmlWell I guess it will help us given we are a good chance to play an Elim final!

Integrity goes out the window so they can play another Thursday night final.

Come on Gil & Fitzpatrick, that's the real reason you like it you turds.

Also looking at increasing prize money for teams that make the finals so it doesn't come at a loss. We must've lost a fair bit during our good years as we couldn't cash in on a flag and the benefits that brings

[kosifantutti]

I like it.

You know we would be in the boring off season now if it wasn't for the bye.

[saintspremiers]

I like it.

You know we would be in the boring off season now if it wasn't for the bye.

Doubt it. They would've inserted a second bye into the season proper instead.

Given the post season bye stays, I just hope they move the Brownlow to the bye week so there is something of interest footy wise that week.

[mad saint guy]

I like it as well. Stops teams from resting half of their best 22 in the final round and makes things like the EJ Whitten match/women's showcase more relevant. Don't see why so many people get so angry over such a small thing that has some positive impact.

[Bluthy]

I don't like it. That week off is super boring and feels pointless. It could be coincidence but this year it seems to have taken away the top 4 teams advantage that wins the first week. YOu work your guts out to get top four, winning in the first week should be an advantage, not a disadvantage - thats crazy. You might get the farcical situation where a club doesn't go 100% to win the first week. And the season goes too long - it should be one day in September not October. Ruins Mike Brady's songs.

Clubs can do whatever they have earnt the right to do in r22 even if that includes resting some players. But unlike Freo and North, the clubs that win premierships have not rested players so that speaks for itsself.

[Moods]

I love it. Gives clubs a chance to re-load before finals - and the first week of the finals this year was incredible. Also gives the local comps a bit of a leg up with their finals series. Also ensures that teams have correct 7 day breaks between games all through the finals - or it should mean that. Both prelims should have been played on the Saturday rather than one of them on a Friday night.

This rubbish about it favouring the bottom teams in the 8 makes me laugh. People quickly forget that the Doggies won 15 games this year. they were not duds. In 08 I think we got a double chance with 13 or 14 wins. The dogs were/are a great team and if the bye enabled them to get a lot of their players back so that they had an opportunity to prove it, well and good.

Does anyone doubt that the two best teams are playing off? The only argument may be that GWS were stiffed, but I don't believe that they were flat, I reckon the doggies game style stifled them. GWS should have been fresher in the last quarter as opposed to the Dogs that had already played 2 hard finals (one of them in Perth) GWS were playing on their home deck. The cards were stacked in their favour and they weren't good enough

[Life Long Saint]

It dilutes the advantage teams have for finishing top 4 and winning the qualifying final.
And for that reason alone, it needs to go. I can't believe the clubs are allowing this to continue.

[Bluthy]

It dilutes the advantage teams have for finishing top 4 and winning the qualifying final.
And for that reason alone, it needs to go. I can't believe the clubs are allowing this to continue.

On a whim, the AFL through out a century of tradition of playing the finals straight after the h&a. The footy year has always been seen as a marathon that provides the ultimate test of clubs depth, determination and strategic use of players.

This year you had two clubs in a prelim that had played only one game in 28 days! There is no way those teams are match fit they way you get playing successive matches or match sharp. And you saw that in the first qtr for both Cats and GWS. That extra week off used to be like a gulp desperately needed air giving a real, hard earned advantage. Now its thumb twiddling, go stale time.

Its insane that the two winners of the first week are disadvantaged. You may get a very real case of coaches coaching to lose that first week so they can play enough to have an edge when they are in the prelim - that would be the biggest farce of all time. I suspect the AFL wanted to make the finals more volatile and less predictable. Then just come out and say that instead of the bulls*** red herring of trying to stop teams resting players in r22.

[Impatient Sainter]

I think its a great move by the AFL. People are suggesting it lessons the advantage of finishing higher on the ladder, perhaps it does but the teams still have to play and win their finals. If they are the better team they win - I think clubs will learn from this year on how to manage the extra time off.

Leigh Matthews said in the media if you look at the ladder this year there was only 1 win separating 3rd from 7th in this years ladder position. So really the bye week has just evened the finals out and the no matter what the formula the best two teams make the Grand Final.

Just imagine if the Saints were in the Bulldogs position this year or we had the bye leading into the finals in 1997 or 2010 - not one us would be complaining.

It leaves that week open for a miriad of other ideas eg State of Origin for non finals players, move the Brownlow Medal its endless.

[Moods]

It dilutes the advantage teams have for finishing top 4 and winning the qualifying final.
And for that reason alone, it needs to go. I can't believe the clubs are allowing this to continue.

On a whim, the AFL through out a century of tradition of playing the finals straight after the h&a. The footy year has always been seen as a marathon that provides the ultimate test of clubs depth, determination and strategic use of players.

This year you had two clubs in a prelim that had played only one game in 28 days! There is no way those teams are match fit they way you get playing successive matches or match sharp. And you saw that in the first qtr for both Cats and GWS. That extra week off used to be like a gulp desperately needed air giving a real, hard earned advantage. Now its thumb twiddling, go stale time.

Its insane that the two winners of the first week are disadvantaged. You may get a very real case of coaches coaching to lose that first week so they can play enough to have an edge when they are in the prelim - that would be the biggest farce of all time. I suspect the AFL wanted to make the finals more volatile and less predictable. Then just come out and say that instead of the bulls*** red herring of trying to stop teams resting players in r22.

How do you explain the top 5 concept the VFL used for 20 years? Top teams often played Grand Finals after only having played 1 game in 28 days - and somehow they managed to prevail. It's nonsense made up by hysterical coaches. Coaches are the absolute last people the AFL should be speaking to. They will adapt.

This bulldust about he Cats being rusty is laughable. The Cats are basically a team that relies on two players. They have all year. They were exposed by the best in the comp

[older saint]

Knee jerk reaction to coaches taking advantage of what they had earned by winning regular season games and resting players. This system has been in place around 15 years or so and only the last couple years have we seen teams lose games in Rnd 22 because of resting players. This year if there was no bye no one would have rested as it was a completely live round going in .
Athletes are creatures of habit, forget Geelong as Sydney are a better team, but GWS were very flat in the first quarter of the game and no doubt made a difference when you have a game decided by less than 2 kicks.

You earn the right to advantage by winning more games during the regular season, AFL never think about the flow on of these decisions just the initial problem they perceive to be solving.

[lewdogs]

GWS were up by 14 points in the last qtr of their preliminary final. Did the bye cost them from there? Or were they simply beaten by a better side?

[Linton Lodger]

So if we're in contention next year we need to finish 5th to have a chance. Or maybe finish top 4 and tank in the qualifying final and use it for experimentation. Because under this arrangement you have f*ck all chance of winning a Prelim Final having played one game in 27 days. No chance whatsoever unless you are far, far surperior to your opponent.

We have the 7th best team in the Grand Final, I couldn't give a rats about their finals form, they were not and are not a top 4 side. Let's put their finals campaign into perspective, they have beaten West Coast (without Natanui) and Hawthorn, big deal, I doubt either will play finals next year. Then GWS a far superior team, absolutely choked on the night, particularly their back 6. Still GWS should have received a 50 metre penalty in the dying seconds, that would have had Scully lining up from 20 metres directly in front.

In the interest of the game's integrity, I hope Sydney give it to them by 100 points.

[Bluthy]

It dilutes the advantage teams have for finishing top 4 and winning the qualifying final.
And for that reason alone, it needs to go. I can't believe the clubs are allowing this to continue.

On a whim, the AFL through out a century of tradition of playing the finals straight after the h&a. The footy year has always been seen as a marathon that provides the ultimate test of clubs depth, determination and strategic use of players.

This year you had two clubs in a prelim that had played only one game in 28 days! There is no way those teams are match fit they way you get playing successive matches or match sharp. And you saw that in the first qtr for both Cats and GWS. That extra week off used to be like a gulp desperately needed air giving a real, hard earned advantage. Now its thumb twiddling, go stale time.

Its insane that the two winners of the first week are disadvantaged. You may get a very real case of coaches coaching to lose that first week so they can play enough to have an edge when they are in the prelim - that would be the biggest farce of all time. I suspect the AFL wanted to make the finals more volatile and less predictable. Then just come out and say that instead of the bulls*** red herring of trying to stop teams resting players in r22.

How do you explain the top 5 concept the VFL used for 20 years? Top teams often played Grand Finals after only having played 1 game in 28 days - and somehow they managed to prevail. It's nonsense made up by hysterical coaches. Coaches are the absolute last people the AFL should be speaking to. They will adapt.

This bulldust about he Cats being rusty is laughable. The Cats are basically a team that relies on two players. They have all year. They were exposed by the best in the comp

The % of the teams that finished top that actually won a flag under that system would be interesting. Did they have a bye throughout the year back then? That could factor in. And anyway the flaws in that system were realised when they moved to a top eight.

Cats finished second despite a huge number of changes. They are light on in mids if you take out dangerwood but I always said they needed at least another year to really bed in. But they won through to the prelim and you take out the first qtr they went toe to toe with swans . That first qtr for both cats and gws was proof positive that they extra week off leaves teams struggling to for match sharpness. As Oldersaint said players thrive on repetition. Stop playing Play stop playing play - thats a disaster.

GWS finished 4th with a much better % than dogs, beat Sydney in Sydney. They were clearly a better team than they dogs and without the extra week killing their timing and making them rusty would almost certainly have beaten the dogs. You can say thats good cos it get dogs in the grannie but you can't say its a fair system. You'd be the first to scream if it stopped St Kilda getting into a grannie.

[Linton Lodger]

I think its a great move by the AFL. People are suggesting it lessons the advantage of finishing higher on the ladder, perhaps it does but the teams still have to play and win their finals. If they are the better team they win - I think clubs will learn from this year on how to manage the extra time off.

Leigh Matthews said in the media if you look at the ladder this year there was only 1 win separating 3rd from 7th in this years ladder position. So really the bye week has just evened the finals out and the no matter what the formula the best two teams make the Grand Final.

Just imagine if the Saints were in the Bulldogs position this year or we had the bye leading into the finals in 1997 or 2010 - not one us would be complaining.

It leaves that week open for a miriad of other ideas eg State of Origin for non finals players, move the Brownlow Medal its endless.

I tell you what, if we had only played one game in 27 days going into the 2009 Prelim Final, the Bulldogs would have smacked us by about 10 goals. We would have got nowhere near a Grand Final.

We probably lost that Grand Final because we'd only had one fair dinkum competitive game in the preceding 6 or 7 weeks.

[Impatient Sainter]

I think its a great move by the AFL. People are suggesting it lessons the advantage of finishing higher on the ladder, perhaps it does but the teams still have to play and win their finals. If they are the better team they win - I think clubs will learn from this year on how to manage the extra time off.

Leigh Matthews said in the media if you look at the ladder this year there was only 1 win separating 3rd from 7th in this years ladder position. So really the bye week has just evened the finals out and the no matter what the formula the best two teams make the Grand Final.

Just imagine if the Saints were in the Bulldogs position this year or we had the bye leading into the finals in 1997 or 2010 - not one us would be complaining.

It leaves that week open for a miriad of other ideas eg State of Origin for non finals players, move the Brownlow Medal its endless.

I tell you what, if we had only played one game in 27 days going into the 2009 Prelim Final, the Bulldogs would have smacked us by about 10 goals. We would have got nowhere near a Grand Final.

We probably lost that Grand Final because we'd only had one fair dinkum competitive game in the preceding 6 or 7 weeks.

And the final result differs how?

[stevie]

Don't forget that without the bye then Footisgray are missing 3 or 4 players when they play Wet Toast. That was the biggest difference to the whole scenario

[saintspremiers]

So if we're in contention next year we need to finish 5th to have a chance. Or maybe finish top 4 and tank in the qualifying final and use it for experimentation. Because under this arrangement you have f*ck all chance of winning a Prelim Final having played one game in 27 days. No chance whatsoever unless you are far, far surperior to your opponent.

We have the 7th best team in the Grand Final, I couldn't give a rats about their finals form, they were not and are not a top 4 side. Let's put their finals campaign into perspective, they have beaten West Coast (without Natanui) and Hawthorn, big deal, I doubt either will play finals next year. Then GWS a far superior team, absolutely choked on the night, particularly their back 6. Still GWS should have received a 50 metre penalty in the dying seconds, that would have had Scully lining up from 20 metres directly in front.

In the interest of the game's integrity, I hope Sydney give it to them by 100 points.

Nailed it bro

McVeigh, Hannerbery and Buddy will tear Footscray a new one

[Sainternist]

I wonder if winning a Qualifying Final will become a curse.

[Linton Lodger]

I wonder if winning a Qualifying Final will become a curse.

Or teams start tanking in Qualifying Finals?

[Scollop]

GWS were up by 14 points in the last qtr of their preliminary final. Did the bye cost them from there? Or were they simply beaten by a better side?

Nailed it. People drawing conclusions from the fact that both Sydney and the Dogs won prelims. If GWS had managed to hang on to their lead, people would be saying that the rest helped them which would also have been bulls***.

Their is no doubt that Sydney have been the best performed team this year. GWS and Geelong had a softer draw. Sydney finished first after h&a and also smashed the Cats at Skilled Stadium. The 2 best teams are palying off.

[IanRush]

Brownlow needs to go to that week then.

[Wayne42]

It's all by the bye.

Teams will adapt if it's permanent.

[Griggsy]

Apart from being boring there is nothing wrong with it.

Dogs played their finals campaign on the road, thats your top 4 advantage to get a home game. being able to lose the first game and not be knocked out, that's your top 4 advantage.

Last time I checked both teams getting a bye is equal.

[Moods]

The bye cost the Swans. It was the idiotic bye that gave the doggies an advantage. Doggies didn't deserve to win they had the bye. All they had to do was beat WC on the road, the reigning premiers, and GWS on the road. Then the minor premiers of this year. They were gifted the flag and it was all the fault of the bye