The AFL season consists of 22 rounds, with most games being played between Friday night and Sunday afternoon. At the end of the 22 weeks of season play, the top 8 teams in the standings face off in 3 weeks of “finals” matches. Finals are the term used in Australian football for post regular season matches and culminate in the Grand Final in Week 4. The teams are seeded 1 thru 8 according to the order of their finish in the “minor premiership” or regular season. These finals are:
Week 1: The top two matches are called "Qualifying Finals": #1 hosts #4, and #2 hosts #3. Winners advance to week 3. Losers play in week 2.
The bottom two matches are called "Elimination Finals": #5 hosts #8 and #6 hosts #7. Losers are eliminated, winners play Week 2.
Week 2: The matches this week are known as Semi-Finals: The higher seeded losers from Week 1 host the lower seeded winners from Week 1. The losers of this weekend are eliminated. The winners advance to week 3.
Week 3: This week is the Preliminary Finals: The top seeded winners from week 1 host the winners from week 2. Teams that met in week 1 can't meet again in this round requiring a "crossover" in some cases. The two winners from this week advance to the Grand Final.
Week 4: Grand Final. Winners from Week 3 meet at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) for the premiership (what Americans might call the championship).
For example, in 2005, the standings, or ladder as it is called in Australian Rules was:
Adelaide
West Coast
Sydney
St. Kilda
Kangaroos
Geelong
Melbourne
Port Adelaide
Therefore, the first week of finals was:
1st Elimination Final: Port Adelaide defeated the Kangaroos, eliminating the Kangaroos
2nd Elimination Final: Geelong defeated Melbourne, eliminating Melbourne
1st Qualifying Final: St. Kilda defeated Adelaide, relegating Adelaide to a semi-final and St Kilda advanced to the Preliminary Final
2nd Qualifying Final: West Coast defeated Sydney, relegating Sydney to a semi-final and advanced to the Preliminary Final
The second week was the Semi-Finals:
1st Semi-Final: Adelaide defeated Port Adelaide, eliminating Port and advancing to the Preliminary Final
2nd Semi-Final: Sydney defeated Geelong, eliminating Geelong, advancing to the Preliminary Final
The third week was the Preliminary Finals:
1st Preliminary Final: Sydney defeated St. Kilda, eliminating St. Kilda and advanced to the Grand Final
2nd Preliminary Final: West Coast defeated Adelaide, eliminating Adelaide and advanced to the Grand Final.
Week 4: Grand Final: Sydney defeated West Coast for the “premiership”, as the championship of the AFL is known.
The above system was introduced in 2000, and it is the last (to date) of many systems which were tried over the years, going back to the beginning in 1897.
In 1897, the top 4 teams played off in a round robin series, with the best performed side - Essendon which won all 3 of its games - being declared the champion with no Grand Final. From 1898-1900, a more complex system was played which allowed all 8 teams to participate. The top 4 and bottom 4 teams were then divided into two sections - A and B. The position of each team in each section determined who from Section A would play whom in Section B. At the end of the series, the top two from each Section would play off in a final. However, if the team who finished first prior to the finals series failed to earn a spot in the semi-final, it had the right of challenge, where by it could play in a Grand Final against the best-performed team of the round robin series. For example, in 1898, Essendon finished first but won only 2 of its 3 sectional games while Fitzroy and Collingwood won all 3 of their games. Fitzroy defeated Collingwood in the next finals match, but Essendon had the right of challenge to play Fitzroy in a Grand Final, with Fitzroy winning.
From 1901-1906, the round robin series continued. At the end of the season, there was a preliminary ladder, which determined the matches of the round robin series. When that series was concluded, the top 4 teams would meet in semi-finals, with the winners advancing to the Grand Final. The round robin series was abandoned after 1906 and only the top 4 played off in semi-finals and a Grand Final.
In 1931, a new finals system was introduced. It was suggested by Richmond secretary Percy Page and developed by Ken McIntryre who worked as a solicitor, teacher, and historian. The Page-McIntyre finals system is still used in a modified form today. From 1931-1971, it was still a top 4 system:
First semi-final: 3rd vs. 4th, loser eliminated
Second semi-final: 1st vs. 2nd
Preliminary final: loser of 2nd semi-final vs. winner of 1st semi-final, loser eliminated
Grand Final: 2nd semi-final winner vs. preliminary final winner
In 1972, a final 5 was introduced and Ken McIntyre again worked out the details, resulting in the introduction of an elimination final and a qualifying final as well the semi-finals, preliminary finals, and the Grand Final. The structure was:
Elimination Final: 4th vs. 5th. Loser eliminated
Qualifying Final: 2nd vs. 3rd
First Semi-Final: QF loser vs. EF winner, loser eliminated
Second Semi-Final: Minor premier (first place at end of season) vs. QF winner, winner to Grand Final
Preliminary Final: 2nd SF loser vs. 1st semi-final winner, loser eliminated, winner to Grand Final
Mr. McIntyre was called upon yet again at the end of 1990 to work out a Final 6 for 1991. A second elimination final was introduced and so it became:
First EF: 5th vs. 6th, loser eliminated, winner advances to semi-final
Second EF: 3rd vs. 4th, loser eliminated, winner advances to semi-final
QF: 1st vs. 2nd, with result determining which team played in which semi-final
1st SF: QF winner vs. winner of 1st EF, loser eliminated
2nd SF: QF loser vs. 2nd EF winner, winner advances to GF, loser to PF
PF: winner to Grand Final, loser eliminated
The final 6 lasted only a few years as the league introduced the Final 8 in 1994, but it was a bit different from the current model. The top 4 had a “double chance” meaning they could lose once and still eventually make the Grand Final, but with 8 teams came the need to determine which of the bottom 4 would be eliminated and who would advance. In 1999, the final year of this particular model, the standings at the end of the season were:
Essendon
Kangaroos
Brisbane
Western Bulldogs
West Coast
Carlton
Port Adelaide
Sydney
Under this original Final 8 system, it was 1st vs. 8th, 2nd vs. 7th, 3rd vs. 6th, and 4th vs. 5th.
From the results of the Qualifying Finals in Week 1, a revised seeding of the final 8 standings was determined and this, in turn, determined who progressed straight to the Preliminary Finals, who had to play in the Week 2 Semi-Finals, and who was eliminated.
So the first week of finals in 1999 was:
Essendon vs. Sydney - Essendon won
Kangaroos vs. Port Adelaide - Kangaroos won
Brisbane vs. Carlton - Brisbane won
West Coast vs. Western Bulldogs - West Coast won
This made the final 8 standings:
WINNERS:
Essendon
Kangaroos
Brisbane
West Coast
LOSERS
Western Bulldogs
Carlton
Port Adelaide
Sydney
Had Essendon, the first placed team at the end of the 22 rounds lost, they would have become the top ranked loser and would have gone to the Semi-Finals, with the other 3 teams below them moving up a rung and Sydney, despite losing would have become the 4th ranked winner. The Bulldogs, Eagles, and Brisbane would then have been below Essendon on the “Losers’ ladder. This would have made the Kangaroos and Brisbane the top 2 winners, allowing them to advance to the Preliminary Finals in Week 3 without having to play in the Week 2 Semi-Finals.
However, as it was, Port and Sydney were eliminated, while Carlton (6th) had a second chance with their win over Brisbane. Essendon and the Kangaroos, by virtue of being the top two teams at the end of the season and winning their first finals, advanced to the preliminary finals without having to play a semi-final in Week 2. Because the 5th placed West Coast defeated the 4th placed Bulldogs, they moved up a rung compared to the end of season standings. But because the Bulldogs finished 4th and Brisbane 3rd at the end of the season, they still had another chance in the semi-finals. As a result, the Semi-Finals games of Week 2 were:
Carlton vs. West Coast
Brisbane vs. Western Bulldogs
Carlton and Brisbane won those games, eliminating West Coast and the Bulldogs, which made the Preliminary Finals:
Carlton vs. Essendon - Carlton won
Kangaroos vs. Brisbane - Kangaroos won
The Grand Final was then contested between Carlton and the Kangaroos with the Kangaroos winning the premiership.
However, there was a huge storm of controversy afterward with many believing that the West Coast Eagles had gotten raw deal, by being forced to travel to Melbourne to face Carlton when, by all rights they, as the higher ranking and winning team, should have hosted the final at their home ground. Part of this was due to the AFL’s contract with the MCG, which stipulated that at least one final per week had to be at the ground, regardless of the teams involved. The MCC Trust was totally implacable on this point and had the law on their side since the contract was agreed to by the AFL. Also, no team below 6th had ever advanced further than a preliminary final.
And so the AFL revised the Final 8 structure for 2000, which is the current model. The fight with MCC continued for several years, especially with the emergence of clubs based outside of Melbourne such as Brisbane and Adelaide as regular finals contenders.
The AFL and MCC finally resolved the matter, with the AFL being allowed to “bank” finals over a period of 5 years, which allowed it more flexibility and the ability to grant home finals to interstate teams who earned the right to do so. The higher the ladder position and winning the first week of finals virtually guarantees a home final.
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