History has told footy fans that making it in the top four is almost a must if a team is to go all the way in September, but has the weekend’s result changed the way we look at footy?
The Brisbane Lions became the second club this century to break the trend, finishing in fifth place at the end of home and away season.
In the last game of the year, one side was match-hardened, a side who absorbed the pressure superiorly to their opposition, playing exhilarating football.
The other side were truly sloppy and after the first 45 minutes, the conversation for neutral supporters turned to ‘what’s for dinner?’.
That raises the question: is finishing in the top four really that important anymore?
When the Sydney Swans took on Port Adelaide in the preliminary final, it would be the second time they had played in 26 days. In comparison, when the Lions played the Cats in the prelim, it was the fourth time they had played in 29 days.
Kai Lohmann celebrates one of his three first half grand final goals. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos/Getty Images)
Geelong began the first half of the prelim flying, with most believing it was going to be a 2022 grand final rematch. However, a nine to four goal second half saw Lions players run the game out better than the Cats did.
Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan said post-match, “It’s good to have the time off, but you need the games that you play to be really hard, tough games.”
For the Cats, their lead-up was a 93-point practice match against the West Coast Eagles in Round 24. This was followed by another bruise-free game, this time against Port Adelaide in the qualifying final. Changing gears into the high-intensity preliminary final proved too difficult, leaving Chris Scott pondering ‘what if’, as they watched Brisbane lift the cup.
“If they didn’t have the pre-finals bye, they’d be in a much better position, in my view,” four-time premiership coach Alastair Clarkson said about the qualifying final winning sides.
John Longmire’s men were the best team over the course of the season, but in the most important game, the game that is immortalised, they failed to deliver their fans a premiership.
If the AFL wants to reward the top four teams in a home and away season that now consists of 24 rounds, the longest season we’ve ever had, then surely the pre-finals bye must go.
The pre-finals bye was formed in 2016, mainly to avoid clubs from resting large proportions of their senior side in the latter rounds.
In Round 23 of 2013, Ross Lyon rested 11 Dockers to prepare for a huge final series, the decision resulted in a 71-point loss to a bottom-four side in St Kilda. Similarly, in 2015, Brad Scott rested nine Kangaroos for their last home and away game, as his side lost to Richmond by 41 points, marking another asterisk to these throwaway contests.
Hugh McCluggage celebrates with Joe Daniher. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
For the 2021 AFL grand final, the pre-finals bye was swapped for the week before the grand final, due to quarantine reasons. This could be a better option for rewarding the top four sides while also protecting players from missing a grand final due to concussion protocols.
This year, the VAFA and the AFL rejected a concussion exemption for the Old Brighton captain to play in the GF. It’s only a matter of time before this happens in the lead-up to an AFL grand final.
The uproar would only intensify if a key player such as Jeremy Cameron or Lachie Neale were to come under concussion protocols, were showing no symptoms, but were disallowed to play. An issue that could easily be avoided.
Penalising clubs for resting players could be another solution, but if clubs used phantom injuries as an excuse for sidelining their stars, it would be difficult to question it.
A pre-finals bye is great to give prime-time air for the beginning of the AFLW season, but for the top four teams, it doesn’t give a clear advantage.
The clear fact is the team with the best depth and fitness will have a better chance of winning a premiership, so why is there a pre-finals bye?
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