Volatile 8 !!

[Rach20]

I agree with you totally. Being 5th you have a home final. Remember Coll vs Adel final at the G last year. The crowd was huge. Having that atmosphere in the first finals will be an added bonus. I'm not going to complain either way as long as we play good footy in the finals it shouldn't matter were we play.

[tomoleary]

This finals system is bad in the way that finishing 4th is better than finishing 2nd or 3rd and losing first week.

4th would be the perfect place to finish, if we then beat Port in the first week, we get a guaranteed home final against most likley the 3rd placed side. If we lose we wouldn't have to play Port away in a prelim.

Finishing 2nd or 3rd with this system and losing first week is the worst thing that can happen...if you win the semi, you play Port. If you finish 4th and lose then win your semi, you'll play 2nd or 3rd (probably Bris) at the MCG; because of the MCC agreement.

The winner of 5th vs 8th plays the loser of 1st vs 4th. 5th would be as good as finishing 4th if 4th loses. But, as Essendon found out last year...can mean alot worse. Thanks to magpie heroics.

Conclusion: it's better to finish 4th than 5th, and better to finish 4th than 3rd.