McIntyre Final Eight System
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The McIntyre Final Eight System was devised by Ken McIntyre in addition to the McIntyre Four, Five and Six systems. It is a playoff system of the top 8 finishers in a competition to determine which two teams will play in the Grand Final. The teams play each other over three weeks, with two teams eliminated each week. Teams who finish in a higher position in the competition are given an easier route to the Grand Final.
It is currently the finals series system used by the National Rugby League (since 1999); its first use was by the Australian Football League in 1994. However, starting from the 2000 season, the AFL replaced it with another top 8 system - the same one abandoned by the Australian Rugby League in 1996.
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[edit] How it Works
Week 1
- 1st Qualifying Final: 1st vs 8th
- 2nd Qualifying Final: 2nd vs 7th
- 3rd Qualifying Final: 3rd vs 6th
- 4th Qualifying Final: 4th vs 5th
The teams are then ranked depending on whether they won or lost, then on their position on the ladder before the finals.
The two lowest ranked losers are eliminated from the finals, whilst the two highest ranked winners progress straight to Week 3.
Week 2
- 1st Semi Final: 4th highest ranked winner vs 2nd highest ranked loser
- 2nd Semi Final: 3rd highest ranked winner vs 1st highest ranked loser
The two losing teams are eliminated, the two winning teams progress to Week 3.
Week 3
- 1st Preliminary Final: 2nd highest ranked winner (from Week 1) vs winner of 2nd Semi Final
- 2nd Preliminary Final: 1st highest ranked winner (from Week 1) vs winner of 1st Semi Final
The two losing teams are eliminated, the two winning teams progress to Week Four.
Week 4
- Grand Final: winner of 1st Preliminary Final vs winner of 2nd Preliminary Final
[edit] Criticisms
With its adoption by the NRL, debate again has arisen over its logic. The major problem many fans and media have with the system is that it allows the possibility for the teams that finish third and fourth on the ladder to be eliminated in the first week of the finals, although this has never happened in its history. In fact, only twice (1999 - Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks; 2005 - Parramatta Eels) in its use has the team finishing first failed to make the grand final.
Another criticism is that if the top four teams win their games, as they theoretically should, it leaves the scenario of the third ranked team playing the fifth-highest ranked team in Week 2, whereas in Week 1 they played the sixth-highest ranked team. Hence the team is "rewarded" for winning by having to play a higher ranked (and theoretically more difficult) team. This situation arises because the NRL does not want the same teams playing each other in the second week of the finals series.
The third criticism was that, if first-week results go as planned, then first defeats eighth and second defeats seventh. This leaves the teams who finished from third to sixth effectively playing "dead rubbers" in the first week, with the results merely reshuffling the order of these four teams.
To clarify the third criticism, the AFL always scheduled the first round of the finals such that, in chronological order, the games were played: 4 vs 5, 3 vs 6, 2 vs 7, 1 vs 8. So, there was never the situation where two teams would play, knowing that their result would certainly not matter. However, if the final two games ultimately went as predicted, then the first two games again seem to retrospectively have little meaning. This was the main reason why the AFL changed the final eight system in 2000.
[edit] Advantages
The major advantages of the system are that it provides the best chance that the top 2 teams after the regular season will meet in the grand final, and that no matches are repeated twice in the first three weeks. When compared to other final eight systems, the McIntyre system allows for many more combinations of the eight teams in the grand final - with only two combinations (1v7 and 2v8) being completely impossible.
[edit] Competitions
In addition to the NRL, the McIntyre System is also used in the Rugby League National League Three in Great Britain, and the NSWRL Premier League and Jersey Flegg competitions.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Grand Finals at the MCG Contains a brief summary of the finals systems used in the VFL/AFL
- An analysis of the AFL final eight playoff system Mathematical analysis of the McIntyre Final Eight system
