The Orange

It’s playoff time in the NRL so it’s time for the annual whinge about the playoff system.

The guilty player in this story is the “McIntyre Final Eight System” that is used to find the winner of the playoffs.

First, the system in a nutshell.

The key numbers:

• 8 teams play over four weeks to find one winner
• the 8 teams are ranked 1 to 8 (it has to be simple if the Aussies use it)
• the games are based on ranking and played in the following order: 4 v 5 , 3 v 6,2 v 7,and 1 v 8 – the timing is critical
• in week 1, teams one and two can’t be “flushed down the dunny”
• conversely, teams 7 and 8 must win to stay alive

Where it gets interesting is the next two weeks.

The top two ranked winners from week one go to straight to week three.

The two bottom ranked losers go on the piss and commit violent crimes and beat up their coaches – allegedly … oops, are eliminated.

Bugger it, let’s let Wikipedia explain:

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.

There you have it.

Given that home advantage is so important and no one wants to be eliminated, there’s going to be some upset people out there.

The Warriors broke new ground last year winning from 8th.  Ironically, their reward was a home game against the Roosters who’d finished ahead of the Warriors.  Conversely, the Storm (the number one ranked team) had to play away in week two.

The same happened this year with the Dragons losing in week one and as a result having to play the Broncos in Brisbane in week two.  Conversely the Eels won on the road in week one and earned a home game against the Titans – a much easier task than the comparable road trip.

Wikipedia notes other anomalies with the McIntyre System.

There is a valid point that the top four  teams deserve better reward for their efforts over the season.  It would be eminently reasonable for example to give these teams home advantage in throughout the playoffs – the Eels who slipped into the playoffs at 8th surely don’t deserve the rights to a home quarter which is effectively what they got against the team that finished third.

Having said that, the problem doesn’t occur if the top teams win and logically they already have an easier draw in week one.  All they have to do is win!

Moreover, the top ranked team has made the final more often than not (including the Warriors) so the system ain’t THAT broke.

The irony of course is that the NRL stole the McIntyre System from the AFL in 1999 … the same year that the AFL dropped it.