One of the outstanding features of Australian Football is its finals series, which have produced some of the AFL's greatest moments. Since 1931, when the McIntyre final four system was introduced, the AFL/VFL has played 359 finals under five separate finals systems. From 1931 until 1971, the premiership was decided under the McIntyre final four system. From 1972 until 1990, the AFL had a final five system. In 1991, for one year, a final six settled the series. In 1992 and 1993, the second version of the final six decided the premier. In 1994, the AFL introduced its first version of the final eight and this decided the premiership until 1999. In December 1999, the AFL announced the introduction of a new final eight system for the 2000 finals series.
Final eight:
The new finals system works as follows: In the first week all eight teams play. The games pit first against fourth, second against third, fifth against eighth and sixth against seventh. The top four sides on the ladder after the home and away season are guaranteed a double chance after the first week of the finals. The top two teams will play in their home state. Teams finishing fifth to eighth will not have a double chance and will need to win four successive sudden death matches to win the premiership. Teams five and six will have home state advantage in the first week of the finals. The winners of the games first v fourth and second v third proceed straight to the preliminary finals in week three. The losers will receive the double chance and play in the semifinals in week two. The games fifth v eighth and sixth v seventh will be cutthroat elimination finals with the losers being eliminated and the winners proceeding to the semi-finals. The remaining three weeks of the finals will be cutthroat. The winners of the semi-finals in week two will proceed to the preliminary finals, while the losers are eliminated. Winners of the qualifying finals host the games. Those rights, however, are not guaranteed. Winners of the two preliminary finals move into the AFL Grand Final, while the losers are eliminated. Sides which finish above their opposition on the ladder earn the right to host a home final in week one of the finals. In week two, losers from the qualifying finals host a home final. In week three, winners from the qualifying finals host a home final. The AFL has an agreement with the MCC, the ground managers for the MCG, to play at least one game at the venue in each week of the finals series. In the past, this has resulted in teams playing finals outside their own states, even though they sometimes had a better ladder position than their opponents. The AFL has requested that the MCC consider an arrangement in which a total of three finals would be played in the three weeks before the Grand Final — but not necessarily one a week. It is, however, still bound by the current agreement.
