The finals system
The system is a final eight system. This system is different from the McIntyre final eight system, which was previously used by the AFL, and was used by the National Rugby League until 2011.
The top four teams in the eight receive what is popularly known as the "double chance" when they play in week-one qualifying finals. This means that even if a top-four team loses in the first week, it still remains in the finals, playing a semi-final the next week against the winner of an elimination final. The bottom four of the eight play knock-out games, in that only the winners survive and move on to the next week. Home-state advantage goes to the team with the higher seed in the first two weeks, to the qualifying final winners in the third week. Games in Victoria are played at the MCG, regardless of the team's usual home ground, if a crowd larger than the seating capacity of Etihad Stadium (53,359) is expected.
In the second week, the winners of the qualifying finals receive a bye to the third week. The losers of the qualifying final plays the elimination finals winners in a semi-final. In the third week, the winners of the semi-finals from week two play the winners of the qualifying finals in the first week. The winners of those matches move on to the Grand Final at the MCG in Melbourne. [1]
The Australian Football League's 2005 finals series began on the weekend of 2 September 2005 and ended with the 109th AFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 24 September 2005. The Sydney Swans defeated West Coast, breaking their record 72-year drought between premierships. The top eight teams on the home and away rounds ladder qualify for the Finals Series.
The AFL final eight system is an eight-team championship playoff tournament developed and adopted by the Australian Football League in the 2000 season. The eight teams, which are ranked or seeded in advance of the tournament, participate in a four-week tournament, with two teams eliminated in each of the first three weeks. The grand final is played in the fourth week between the two remaining teams, with the winning team awarded the premiership.
The Australian Football League's 2006 finals series took place between the teams that finished in the top eight in the 2006 AFL season. It began on the weekend of 8 September 2006 and ended with the 110th AFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 30 September 2006. The winner, West Coast Eagles, was crowned champion of the AFL after defeating Sydney by one point.
The Australian Football League finals series, more generally known as the AFL finals, and known from 1897 until 1989 as the Victorian Football League finals series or VFL finals, is a playoff tournament held at the end of each AFL season to determine the premier. The top eight teams qualify for the finals based on the home-and-away season results, and finals matches are played over four weeks under the conventions of the AFL final eight system, culminating in the AFL Grand Final. The finals series is traditionally held throughout September.
The Australian Football League's 2007 Finals Series determined the top eight final positions of the 2007 AFL season. It began on the weekend of 7 September 2007 and ended with the 111th AFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 29 September 2007. The Geelong Football Club were crowned the 2007 AFL Premiers, beating the Port Adelaide Football Club by 119 points to win their first premiership since 1963.
The Australian Football League's 2008 Finals Series determined the top eight final positions of the 2008 AFL season. It began on the weekend of 5 September 2008 and ended with the 112th AFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 27 September 2008. The Hawthorn Football Club were crowned the 2008 AFL Premiers, beating the Geelong Football Club by 26 points in front of a crowd of 100,012.
The Australian Football League's 2009 finals series determined the top eight final positions of the 2009 AFL season over four weekends in September 2009, culminating with the 113th AFL/VFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 26 September 2009. Geelong won the AFL premiership, for the second time in three years, following their twelve-point win over St Kilda in the grand final.
The Australian Football League's 2010 finals series determined the top eight final positions of the 2010 AFL season. The series was scheduled to occur over four weekends in September 2010, culminating with the 114th AFL/VFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 25 September 2010. However, after Collingwood and St Kilda drew in the grand final, the series was extended to five weeks, ending on 2 October, with the first Grand Final replay since 1977. Collingwood won the replay by 56 points to become the 2010 premiers.
The NRL finals system is the finals series that is currently being used by the National Rugby League competitions of Australia and New Zealand since 2012. The NRL finals system replaced the McIntyre system which was used from 1999 to 2011.
The 2012 Australian Football League finals series determined the winner of the 2012 AFL season. The series took place over four weekends in September 2012, culminating with the 116th AFL/VFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 29 September 2012.
The 2013 Australian Football League finals series determined the winner of the 2013 AFL season. The series ran from the 6th to 28 September and culminated in the 117th AFL/VFL Grand Final, held between Fremantle and Hawthorn, which Hawthorn won.
The 2014 Australian Football League finals series is the 118th annual edition of the VFL/AFL final series, the Australian rules football tournament staged to determine the winner of the 2014 AFL Premiership Season. The series ran over four weekends in September 2014, and culminated with the 2014 AFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 27 September 2014.
The 2015 Australian Football League finals series was the 119th annual edition of the VFL/AFL final series, the Australian rules football tournament staged to determine the winner of the 2015 AFL Premiership Season. The series ran over four weekends in September and October 2015, culminating with the 2015 AFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 3 October 2015. Hawthorn won the match by 46 points against West Coast, recording their third consecutive premiership. The match was played in October, due to the season starting later than usual.
The 2016 Australian Football League finals series was the 120th annual edition of the VFL/AFL final series, the Australian rules football tournament staged to determine the winner of the 2016 AFL Premiership Season. The series ran over four weekends in September and October 2016, culminating with the 2016 AFL Grand Final, between the Sydney Swans and the Western Bulldogs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 1 October 2016. The Western Bulldogs defeated the Sydney Swans by 22 points to end the Western Bulldogs 62-year premiership drought, becoming the first team in AFL history to win the premiership from seventh place.
The 2017 Australian Football League finals series was the 121st annual edition of the VFL/AFL final series, the Australian rules football tournament staged to determine the winner of the 2017 AFL Premiership Season. The series ran over four weekends in September 2017, culminating with the 2017 AFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 30 September 2017.
The 2018 Australian Football League finals series was the 122nd annual edition of the VFL/AFL finals series, the Australian rules football tournament staged to determine the winner of the 2018 AFL season. The finals ran over four weekends in September 2018, culminating with the 2018 AFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 29 September 2018.
The 2019 Australian Football League finals series was the 123rd annual edition of the VFL/AFL final series, the Australian rules football tournament staged to determine the winner of the 2019 AFL Premiership season. The series ran over four weekends in September 2019, culminating with the 2019 AFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 28 September 2019.
The 2021 Australian Football League finals series was the 125th annual edition of the VFL/AFL finals series.
The 2022 Australian Football League finals series was the 126th annual edition of the VFL/AFL finals series, the Australian rules football tournament staged to determine the winner of the 2022 AFL premiership season. The series was played over four weeks in September and culminated in the 2022 AFL Grand Final.
The 2023 Australian Football League finals series was the 127th annual edition of the VFL/AFL finals series, the Australian rules football playoff tournament staged to determine the winner of the 2023 AFL premiership season. The series was played over four weeks in September, and culminated in the 2023 AFL Grand Final, which saw Collingwood win its record-tying 16th premiership by 4 points over the Brisbane Lions.
