Dwayne Russell: ‘Home’ finals system rewards some, cripples others
THE AFL’s rule of not having a rule to determine which teams deserve a home final, will see two different sets of rules apply in September this year.
THE AFL’s rule of not having a rule to determine which teams deserve a home final, will see two different sets of rules apply for the Cats and Giants in September.
Geelong will not receive an elimination final in Geelong against a fellow Victorian team like Hawthorn, Melbourne, Essendon or Collingwood, even if it deserves a home final by finishing the home-and-away season above that opponent on the ladder.
The Cats will be forced to host any home elimination final it may earn against a Victorian opponent at the MCG, due to what the AFL explains as its primary finals fixture objective of crowd maximisation.
But the Giants will be allowed to host a home final at Spotless Stadium against their cross-town rival the Swans, if they finish above the Swans and the two Sydney teams are drawn to meet in any of the first three finals weeks.
Spotless Stadium’s capacity is 24,000, which is 22,000 less than the SCG capacity of 46,000. This means about 22,000 less fans will be able to attend a Sydney derby final at Spotless. Thousands of fans are also likely be locked out if the Giants host a big-drawing team like Collingwood or Richmond at Spotless, rather than the SCG.
The Cats are hovering on the edge of the top eight and are not guaranteed September action yet. But they finish their season against Hawthorn (MCG), Fremantle (GMHBA Stadium) and Gold Coast (GMHBA Stadium). Wins in two or three of those games should see the Cats earn a home final by finishing fifth or sixth.
The Cats were controversially robbed of a home final last season when they finished second and were forced to play the third-placed Richmond at the Tigers’ home ground, the MCG.
A crowd of 95,000 attended that final, with the majority of support for the Tigers, who with an advantage rather than a disadvantage won that game and went on to win the flag.
Only a month earlier, Geelong hosted the Tigers in Geelong at its 36,000-capacity stadium and defeated the Tigers by two goals with help from a massively parochial Cat crowd.
Geelong’s home-ground advantage was evident again last month, when it came from 29 down in the last quarter to defeat Melbourne in a thriller.
The Cats are also robbed of two home games during the home-and-away season, because the AFL deems their home ground capacity to be too small to host teams like Hawthorn and Richmond. So both of those “home” games against Richmond and Hawthorn this year, became “home” games at the MCG for the Hawks and Tigers. The Cats are the only team in the AFL with only nine “home” games.
The AFL’s uneven finals allocation system could end up haunting Port Adelaide if the Power drops to seventh or eighth and are drawn to meet a higher-placed Geelong in an elimination final. Geelong CEO Brian Cook confirmed this week the Cats expect a home final in Geelong if it’s against a non-Melbourne team like Port or the Swans.
So while a Melbourne-based team would be favourably allowed to meet Geelong at the theoretically neutral MCG, a non-Melbourne opponent like Port would be forced to face the Cats at their hometown cauldron.
It is amazing the AFL has a 23-week, 198-game season to decide the finals rankings and then takes that advantage away from a team.
But the bizarrely unique AFL draw itself, is not even. And just like the fabled flap of a butterflies wing, minor changes to rules and AFL policy can lead to massive swings of fortune.
This September, it might be the Giants that get the lucky twist.
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