Welcome to the NRL and AFL finals
Welcome to the first week of the NRL finals. A week where 26 rounds of blood, sweat and tears is tossed out the window for the sake of dumping two teams from the finals series. Is it crazy that the minor premiers can suffer an identical fate as a team that finishes fifth or sixth? Both can win and earn a week off. Both can lose and live to fight another day. Melbourne could lose first week of the finals and have to travel to Townsville the next week to face seventh placed North Queensland. Where’s the advantage for their dominance? It took a whole year to earn a home ground final and other teams can earn it with a single win this week alone. Suddenly for the top teams one bad result – which, lets face it, could come from a dodgy refereeing decision – could ruin their season. Or, to look at it the other way, what if all the top ranked teams win? The first week has suddenly become a waste of time. Seventh and eighth drop out and teams three to six have simply had practice games. Home ground advantage? Where’s the fairness for Manly and Wests Tigers who have to play at the SFS and ANZ Stadium?
Then again, the AFL system is no fairer. A premium value is placed on the top four. At least one guaranteed home final and a guaranteed second chance for all teams. It means that in the first week only teams from fifth to eighth will be eliminated. The bottom half of the eight have to earn it all the way through the finals. They don’t stand a chance – no advantage is handed to them simply for causing one upset. But is it too hard? Not since Adelaide in 1998 has a team come from the bottom half of the eight to be premiers.
The NRL system might be flawed, but its unpredictability is priceless. There is no easy answer. Maybe we should adopt the US sports model. Every final an elimination until there is one left standing. After all, if you’re the best team in the competition you shouldn’t need a second chance.
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