Originally Posted by
Flamethrower
There are 2 issues - bad teams, and unfair fixtures.
There are always going to be bad teams - that is why we have a draft so that the worst teams get to draft the best kids coming into the system. Priority picks? Just say no.
And that leaves the fixture. I don't like the idea of playing all teams once and then making a new fixture for the last 5 games. Too much uncertainty for everyone.
My idea is to use the previous season's fixtures to split teams into 3 groups of 6. Top 6 play each other twice, middle 6 play each other twice and bottom 6 ditto. Play the other 12 once. Gather Round then allows the AFL to make sure we still get the 2 WA teams, 2 SA teams, 2 Qld teams and 2 NSW teams play each other twice. If they don't finish in the same group of 6, schedule them as game 23
For example last years' groups of 6 would have been...
Geelong, Sydney Swans, Melbourne, Collingwood, Fremantle, Brisbane Lions.
Richmond, Western Bulldogs, Carlton, St Kilda, Port Adelaide, Gold Coast Suns
Hawthorn, Adelaide, Essendon, GWS, West Coast Eagles, North Melbourne
Game 23 - Geelong v Richmond, Sydney v GWS, Melbourne v Essendon, Collingwood v Carlton, Fremantle v West Coast, Brisbane Lions v Gold Coast Suns, Western Bulldogs v North Melbourne, St Kilda v Hawthorn, Port Adelaide v Adelaide.
This would give the fixture a lot more transparency, and is probably as close to a fair fixture as you can get playing the season over 23 rounds. (Note that Essendon would still get to play North & WCE twice, but they were a stinking load of garbage last season too).