Was the Final Five the perfect system??

[Tom Shines]

We don't reward mediocrity. It would be a reward if the Eels would have to play 5th just to get through to the second week, like in the AFL system.

You make the finals in 8th and have to place the best side all year in the first week of the finals. If the Dragons can't managed to beat a side that has been mediocre for most of the season than that is there problem. Parramatta have then had to go and play 2 and 3 and could well play 4 to win the GF, thus they have beaten all the top 4 sides this year consecutively to win the GF. doesn't look like so easy to me.

Every year apart from the last two years have ended in the 1st team moving straight to the prelims and eighth exitiing.

Results speak from themselves.

a five finals system thus isn't financially viable, and just wouldn't work in the NRL today, have 12 teams then maybe.

Exactly.

If you are team 1, and can't beat team 8 at home or team 6 away, then you don't deserve the win the comp.

Conversely, if you finish 8th and are good enough to beat the teams that finished 1-2-3-4, then I think you've done more than enough to earn it.

 

[Southernsaint]

YAWN @ Storm and Eel - it's pretty obvious I've not put a team before refining the system...

Dealing with Morons makes me sleepy...

 

[Dogs Of War]

Do you think if we have 2 more teams added to the comp around 2012, that the top 8 will be a better gauge of the best teams then? 18 teams means that 10 miss out every year.

 

[Ridders]

Do you think if we have 2 more teams added to the comp around 2012, that the top 8 will be a better gauge of the best teams then? 18 teams means that 10 miss out every year.

Thats the perfect way imo. Shouldn't be taking away the amount of teams in the Finals.

 

[Y2Eel]

YAWN @ Storm and Eel - it's pretty obvious I've not put a team before refining the system...

Dealing with Morons makes me sleepy...

I feel for your friends and family they must be tired all the time....

I have to ask why is it only bulldogs and dragon fans having a whinge where are the Titan fans?? We knocked them out but they are fine with it...

 

[coach]

I don't like any format that rewards teams that lose. If a team loses then its out.

For me the Top 6 is the way to go. In week one you have team 3 playing team 6 and 4 playing 5.

The winners go on and play teams 1 and 2 in week 2. Then of course the winners of these games play in the grand final. A much fairer system in my opinion.

The reason the NRL would not use this system is they would lose money. My suystem has three weekends of finals football and five game. While the top 8 had 4 weeks of footy and 9 games.

Haaving a top 8 system is all about money and nothing more.

 

[Timmah]

Azkatro's hit the nail on the head - there's nowhere near enough emphasis on the minor premiership. In the A-League it's called the Premiership and Championship rather and Minor Premier and Premier.

The best teams throughout 2009 were clearly the Dragons and Bulldogs, the Titans were extremely close as well, and the Storm did well enough over the length of the comp to be up close there too.

At the end of the day, I'm happy the 'Dogs came as far as they did - an awesome effort by an awesome team in light of last year's unmitigated disaster.

 

[Timmah]

McIntyre also invented the Final 5 format in the 1970's as well as the original final 4 format in the 1920's.
Before he died he said the Final 8 now used by the NRL was mathematically correct, but to a lay person the AFL version which was changed from McIntyre to what they use now seems less complicated.

The problem with AFL's system is that 5 and 6 get home finals while 3 and 4 are forced to go on the road in week one. Ridiculous.

 

[Y2Eel]

Azkatro's hit the nail on the head - there's nowhere near enough emphasis on the minor premiership. In the A-League it's called the Premiership and Championship rather and Minor Premier and Premier.

The best teams throughout 2009 were clearly the Dragons and Bulldogs, the Titans were extremely close as well, and the Storm did well enough over the length of the comp to be up close there too.

At the end of the day, I'm happy the 'Dogs came as far as they did - an awesome effort by an awesome team in light of last year's unmitigated disaster.

Then Stop watching the NRL its been like that for ages....

 

[Marshall_magic]

I think the top 5 system was great, to win from 5th you had to beat everyone, but as it's been said, top 5 is not enough in a 16 team competition, I can live with top 8, as it's pretty much stacked against teams 7 and 8 when the finals begin.

 

[caylo]

I think the top 5 system was great, to win from 5th you had to beat everyone, but as it's been said, top 5 is not enough in a 16 team competition, I can live with top 8, as it's pretty much stacked against teams 7 and 8 when the finals begin.

While in the top 8 you dont have to play everyone to win from 8th but you do have to beat 4 of the best teams in the comp. This year parramatta have had to beat 1, 2 and 3 and will either play 4 or 6. The knights and Manly wont have been much of an issue either considering the caliber of teams we have beaten.

 

[Timmah]

Then Stop watching the NRL its been like that for ages....

:?

Never said anything about not wanting to watch it the way it is. Just comparing different competitions and how they recognise certain winners. It comes down to personal opinion who the best team is over a year, some people might value the minor premiership as it represents long-standing consistency over a season, whereas others live for the excitement of the finals and the premiership. Each to their own, just sharing my opinion. Stop following me around and enjoy your victory.

 

[Y2Eel]

:?

Never said anything about not wanting to watch it the way it is. Just comparing different competitions and how they recognise certain winners. It comes down to personal opinion who the best team is over a year, some people might value the minor premiership as it represents long-standing consistency over a season, whereas others live for the excitement of the finals and the premiership. Each to their own, just sharing my opinion. Stop following me around and enjoy your victory.

But why is it the only time this has been raised is when the Dragons and bulldogs are knocked out? The Titans finished 3rd and we dont hear a complaint...

haha you love it Timmy;-)

 

[Timmah]

I raised the same complaint at the end of the previous A-League season in 2008 when the Mariners finished with the "premiership", then Newcastle ended winning the "Championship".

Enjoy your runners up medals.

 

[Jason Maher]

Geez you're a good winner Y2Eel. You were probably bitching about the same thing after your mob got bitch-slapped by an ordinary Cowgirls team in '05. Fair enough your mob has done exceedingly well to get to where they are from where they were, but they've won jack sh*t thus far, so I'd advise against being such a dickhead about it just yet.

I will always maintain that the final 5 is the best, fairest, and simplest system. No-one seemed to suffer too much from 88-94 when we also had a 16 team comp and only 5 in the finals (with midweek playoffs for 5th spot in some years). This has been my view since 1995, when I thought they should have gone for a 6 team finals series (out of 20), but as always the dollar won out and we got 8. 1998's 10-team system was the only other one I've liked, seeing as it was basically side-by-side top 5s with a crossover after week 2 or 3 (can't remember which) and the 2 winners playing off.

 

[thommo4pm]

What's wrong with a top 7 system?
That way, you don't have half the sides in the finals.
You can reward the minor premiers with week 1 off in the finals series.

Didn't we have a 7 team final series in the ARL in 1997?

Anyway, the topic is irrelevant as I can't see the NRL changing the top 8, the only possible change would be whether we go back to the same system the AFL uses now.

 

[taxidriver]

The problem with AFL's system is that 5 and 6 get home finals while 3 and 4 are forced to go on the road in week one. Ridiculous

But they get a guaranteed week two or three game and it is at their home venue.

Ludicrous that a team could finish the regular season 3rd and due to one bad game be gone while a team that limps in survives.

 

[Garts]

Should be 8 teams in the finals, 5 is not enough. With the salary cap teams 1 to 8 are generally pretty close in terms of ability so I dont think it rewards mediocrity. Teams can have injuries to key players in the year and that can effect how they perform in the season but if they make they 8 its a new ball game. Saying a team is not as deserving of a premiership because they came in the bottom half of the 8 is just sour grapes.

 

[taxidriver]

who said that garts and in what post?

i certainly didn't see that anywhere

 

[Garts]

who said that garts and in what post?

i certainly didn't see that anywhere

Are you talking about my comment about a team not being as deserving if they finished in the bottom half of the 8? If so, no one has said that in this thread but I have come across quite a few fans with that view in the last week or so. Timmah also mentioned something about it being a kick in the teeth to teams who finished in the top 4 and also the fact he finds it hard to handle himself. Whilst he did not directly say Parra were less deserving of a GF spot I got the impression thats what he was alluding to.