History
Since the days of the VFL (Victorian Football League) expanding its brand to become the AFL (Australian Football League) back in 1987, the game at the elite level has mostly gone with a 22-round season whereby each team would play each other once, with the remainder of the games being played between a select few teams – usually those who you were major rivals in order to increase the level of interest across the country.
As of 2012, the AFL will introduce its 18th team – the Greater Western Sydney Giants (GWS) meaning that each team will play each other once, while playing a select group of five teams a second time to complete the 22-round season. The top eight teams advance to the AFL finals and get the chance to win the much-coveted AFL Premiership trophy.
NAB Cup
Before all this, however, there is a pre-season competition that is primarily used to condition the players for the proper season ahead. The NAB Cup is essentially a knockout competition, which showcases the public about what it might get to witness during ‘the real stuff’. The NAB Cup also gives the AFL a chance to trial rules that may be implemented in the years to come, but beyond all this, the competition is still seen as a mere preview and not a competition that is held in high-esteem.
AFL Rounds and Seasons
A round in AFL football is essentially a sequence of match-days all played within the one weekend that makes up a part of the ‘home-and-away’ season. Traditionally starting from Friday night, (from 2012) nine matches will be played each round between the 18 teams, with the final match of the round normally culminating through a twilight match held on Sunday evening.
Although, some rounds may have a match start on Thursday night or end on Monday night if a round happens to fall on a prominent week on the Australian calendar. Furthermore, the AFL schedules matches on various public holidays throughout the season even if they fall during the week as to generate the best possible spectator crowd and television coverage for the promotion of the sport.
Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) Day football has become an AFL institution in recent years, with two of the biggest clubs in the country, Collingwood and Essendon, toughing it out in what is as described as the greatest match of the AFL season outside of the AFL Grand Final. This match is to commemorate the Australian soldiers from both World Wars who fought and died for the nation’s freedom.
The only public holiday during the AFL season where AFL football does not feature at all is on Good Friday. Like ANZAC Day, the AFL also seeks to use selected matches or rounds throughout the season to promote various initiatives that revolve around football and, most importantly, life in Australia.
Prostate and breast cancer awareness are initiatives that are well-documented during a selected match in each season, while Women’s Round, Rivalry Round, Heritage Round and Dreamtime at the ‘G are all promoted extensively to give the sport a sense of occasion each season.
These rounds promote the women who are involved in football, the rivalry between teams and each club’s heritage respectively. Meanwhile, Dreamtime at the ‘G celebrates the Aboriginal culture and the Indigenous players who have played and are currently playing in the AFL.
Finals Football
The VFL, from its very first days back in 1897, always used a top-four finals system whereby the team that finished first on the ladder after the home-and-away season would play the fourth-placed team, while second played third in two semi-finals that would decide the VFL Grand Final.
As previously mentioned, the winners of the semi-finals would play each other in the AFL Grand Final – which would normally be called a ‘final’ in other sports – and would, hence, be crowned with the AFL Premiership. Traditionally, the AFL Grand Final is played on the last Saturday in September, with the match commencing in the afternoon.
However, with the expansion of the number of teams combined with the interest of the game now being enjoyed at a national level, the AFL elected to add more teams to its finals system. Currently, the top eight teams after the home-and-away season play over four weeks to decide the winner of the AFL Premiership cup.
The first week consists of two qualifying and two elimination finals each. In the qualifying finals, first plays fourth, while second plays third, with the winners of these finals going straight to week three to host a preliminary final. Conversely, the losers are still allocated a second chance, but will instead host a semi-final in week two.
The elimination finals are unsurprisingly contested between fifth and eighth, and sixth and seventh, with the winners of the elimination finals playing the losers of the qualifying finals.
From week two, every match becomes sudden death. The two winners of the semi-finals advance to the preliminary finals where they will battle it out with the winners of the qualifying finals back in week one. Like the semi-finals back in the old system, the two preliminary finals decide the teams that will face off in the AFL Grand Final for the Premiership cup.
As of 2012, traditional clubs, Carlton and Essendon, boast the most ‘flags’, premierships, with 16 apiece, while Collingwood is hot on their heels with 15 of its own.
Andy Paolacci - Hi there! My name is Andy Paolacci and I am a 26-year-old Monash University Arts/Journalism graduate from Melbourne, Australia. I have ...
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