Three week knockout format for the finals

[Finsta]

A fair few people whinging about no second chance for 1st and 2nd place..

I remind them that the Mariners had 3 chances in the season just gone and they didn't make the GF!

Not really, they had 2 chances, and what's your point?

This is fucking stupid in my opinion. Like Dave said, What's the incentive to go for a top 2 spot? Rest a heap of players, finish 6th, dick it in from there.

Finals are rubbish at the best of times, this just cheapens it even more.

It was 3 games Josh meaning they had 2 chances to put us away before bottling it against Perth.

Incentive to finish top will always be to get that first week off plus home ground advantage in the Semi finals plus automatic ACL possie.

I quite like the idea of no second chances for clubs. Give it all in the finals or you're going home.

[stueyh]

People just need to stop thinking of it in terms of a finals series, but rather a post season cup that the top 6 qualify for, and it is seeded so that the top teams are guaranteed home ground advantage, simple

[Finsta]

People just need to stop thinking of it in terms of a finals series, but rather a post season cup that the top 6 qualify for, and it is seeded so that the top teams are guaranteed home ground advantage, simple

I partly agree.

Also the 6 team finals setup means that all HAL clubs play for a chance to get into finals for longer.. ie. bottom teams and their fans still have something to strive for till it's mathematically impossible to make the finals.. With no relegation system in Australia it's important to keep interest going for all clubs IMO.

[Fc Roarcelona]

I like this format. It has disposed of the lousy prelim final that always had crap attendences becuase the host team was on a low after missing out on hosting the GF.

This format makes the Semi-Final matches massive games that will really swell the attendences.

[My.2cents]

I like this format. It has disposed of the lousy prelim final that always had crap attendences becuase the host team was on a low after missing out on hosting the GF.

This format makes the Semi-Final matches massive games that will really swell the attendences.

And not to mention attacking football due to the must win nature

[Terroarist]

What's the incentive to go for a top 2 spot?

ACL qualification.

Atleast i hope they are going to revise this farce that is the GF winner getting a spot.
Should be 1st and 2nd get Auto ACL qual, 3,4,5 & 6 play off for that 3rd half spot.
Grand Final should be replaced by FFA Cup final.

[suspectandy]

What's the incentive to go for a top 2 spot?

ACL qualification.

Atleast i hope they are going to revise this farce that is the GF winner getting a spot.
Should be 1st and 2nd get Auto ACL qual, 3,4,5 & 6 play off for that 3rd half spot.
Grand Final should be replaced by FFA Cup final.

When is the FFA cup going to happen?

[Finsta]

There's been absolutely no official word on the FFA Cup for a long time.. Hopefully there'll be some news from the FFA or atleast a timeframe of when they reckon it could start..

[poidda]

The finals should be replaced by the FFA Cup.  Top 6 from 10 teams is a joke.

After the regular season, all 10 teams plus the best 6 teams from the state leagues around the country should play an FFA Cup.  16 teams to play a knock out over 4 weeks.  Seed the teams depending where they finished in the league. 

[RRG]

My guess is it will only involve APL clubs, which means it wont happen this season.

[Finsta]

My guess is it will only involve APL clubs

Yeah that's the vibe I'm getting as well. Not an ideal way to "bring" all levels of football together in Australia.

[dave_saves]

I can't ever see the FFA getting rid of the finals series.  They might add the cup as well but in the Australian sporting landscape the biggest drawing crowds are finals matches.  This format may be a step to reducing the workload to allow for an FFA Cup to be slotted in.

Still, as mentioned, I'm not a fan.  Incentive for top 2 is minimal.  1st place there is still incentive (it's the league and an ACL spot after all) but outside having a bye into the 2nd weekif you're 3rd are you really going to push to get 2nd place if you had players walking a suspension tightrope or risk injury for your good players?

[noodles]

I think the new format of the final series will put more emphasis on the league and the leader of the league being the champion....

[Septic Bladder]

Under the new format, they should just call the finals series the FFA cup.

Expand it slowly as finances permit

[noodles]

Under the new format, they should just call the finals series the FFA cup.

Expand it slowly as finances permit

Interesting.... not apposed......    maybe the top 6 could get an "invitation" to play in the FFA cup (which will be the finals)

[Orangeman]

Considering that the Grand final is by far the biggest day on the calendar for any club involved, they should have kept the series the way it was. As it's already been said, the top two teams should be rewarded for finishing at the top. A two leg aggregate with the loser having one more chance to redeem themselves was the best way to do that.

Why fix it if it aint broke?

[aussiemoviemaker]

I suppose this may put more importance on the Premiership.

[Finsta]

Considering that the Grand final is by far the biggest day on the calendar for any club involved, they should have kept the series the way it was. As it's already been said, the top two teams should be rewarded for finishing at the top. A two leg aggregate with the loser having one more chance to redeem themselves was the best way to do that.

Why fix it if it aint broke?

No it wasn't broke but the Preliminary Final was a dud game for the team hosting it as they'd just come off a loss over 2 legs to miss out on making the GF. It was proven over the last 2 seasons that fans just wouldn't bother turning up for this game.

There is no doubt the GF will still be the biggest spectacle

[Roary]

What I'd like to see is the top 4 out of 10 play off. 1st vs 3rd, 2nd vs 4th or 1st vs 2nd, 3rd vs 4th play 2 home an away semi finals legs (the one with 1st being the major) which would take up 2 weeks and then the winners of those two legs play off in the final. It would take away the one off games which the weaker side has a more of a chance of winning with luck than it does over 2 games

[cameron]

I would prefer this for the finals

option 1 preferred

4 teams
single round robin with the highest rank playing home. Top 2 play in finals with the host being the finals winner.

5 weeks (a spare week if a tie occurs)

option 2

4 teams

double round robin over 8 weeks - bit long though