The NRL has finally seen the light with a new finals system set to be introduced for the 2012 NRL season. Clubs, players and fans have been lobbying for this change for as long as I can remember so it’s good to see the Australian Rugby League Commission digging in and making the tough decisions.
The system almost mimics that of the AFL, but since the AFL system works so well that’s not really a bad thing. The McIntyre system gave the clubs that finished in the top 2 a major advantage, but the clubs that finished 3rd and 4th were left with no advantage whatsoever. A home final in week 1 of the finals is all they received for their hard work throughout the season and no guarantees that they will even survive until the second week.
With the new system, the competition is split into 2 groups with the bottom 4 playing for a spot in week 2, and the top teams playing for a week off. The highest ranked team in the first weeks matches gets the home game in their home city. This is to stop clubs, like St George-Illawarra Dragons for example, playing their home game at a smaller stadium when an opportunity to attract bigger crowds is possible.
In week 2, the winners of the 1-4 pool get the week off, the losers play the winners of the 5-8 pool matches. The losers of the 5-8 pool are automatically eliminated.
The advantage of this system is that the top 4 teams only need to win 2 matches to make the Grand Final, whereas the bottom 4 clubs must win all 3 matches to make it through.
NRL 2012 can’t come fast enough, check out the finals system below and let us know what you think of it!
NRL 2012 Finals System
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About bloody time!
It is a much better system, with the comp as even as it is these days, the McIntyre system wasn't going to work, it simply wasn't rewarding the top 4 teams.
Exactly, I can't believe it took them this long to be honest. I have a feeling they were working on something behind the scenes that was different to the AFL's system. It took them so long because they couldn't find something different and in the end produced a system that was almost identical.
I like it. I've always rated the AFL system. It gives the top 4 a really good shot of going all the way without having to worry about what will happen should they lose in the first week. It will also stop clubs from being also rans all season and making a late charge for the finals knowing that they get just as good a shot finishing 6th as they would if they finished 3rd.
Bring on the season I say
New system is way better, I don't understand why people are whinging about it.
Agreed Sneddo. I don't care if it is the same as the AFL system. The NRL fanatics have the sh*ts about it being the same, that's all. They don't like being associated with the AFL whatsoever.
I say use whatever system is going to produce the best results regardless of where it came from. If it helps the whingers out there, it's the system the ARL used back in the mid 90's before Super League came in. Maybe that will make them feel better about it!
A much fairer system on everybody. The 1-2 teams get to actually gage themselves against a Grand Final-quality opponent, and can make adjustments accordingly should they win and get a week off, rather than simply bullying a sub-par team who arguably didn't deserve to make the finals anyway. Same goes for the 3-4 teams, they actually face tougher opponents, but even if they lose, they win, because they get the next game at home in front of a (theoretically) easier opponent and can plan for facing the top 2 again. Teams 5-6 face easier opponents, but the big advantage for them is that they know that if they lose, their season is over. Their fate is not dependent on other teams winning or losing, which, if decided on a blatantly wrong call, would be an injustice. Finally, teams 7 and 8 have a more realistic chance of staking a claim in the finals series. Not all 7-8 teams are that bad in reality, it's just when you pit them up against the very top teams in their home stadium, of course they're going to lose at a very high percentage.
The new system works well for everyone, the only way somebody could gripe against it is solely in the fact that some teams will face tougher opponents than they used to in week 1, and also that there is now no way that teams 7 and 8 can secure a home final at any point. Still, these are minor trade-offs for the benefits I've outlined.
Rob do you know if the prelim. finals are both going to be played in sydney as they once were.I thought it was absolute b.s that warriors had to travel to melb. last year and was rapt when they won.There is no need for home ground advantage past the first weeks
What a lot of people don’t understand about this new system is that unlike the McIntyre system where there are only 2 impossible grand final combinations, this one has 10. If you don’t believe me, do the numbers. 5 v 8, 6 v 7, 1 v 6, 1 v 7, 4 v 6, 4 v 7, 2 v 5, 2 v 8, 3 v 5, 3 v 8 are all impossible grand finals with this system. No wonder the AFL have never had a team make the grand final from outside the top 4. Under the McIntyre system, it was pretty hard for a team outside top 4 to make the grand final, but with this system it’s almost impossible. So why have a top 8 at all? Just make it a top 4, and wouldn’t that be boring? Let’s see how many people think this system is great when their team is outside the top 4 and is just making up the numbers.