Should AFL still have a bye next year at the end of the H&A season?

[Zlatorog]

It looks like WB benefited from the bye this year as they needed a recovery more than any other team. I'm sure if they played the Eagles the week after they defeated the Crows, probably the result would have been different. Eddie made a comment after our win against the Cats that AFL will keep the bye next year and have a Brownlow ceremony that week. It looks like that the bye has evened up the final series and perhaps the ladder position won't matter much except for the second chance. Should the AFL keep the bye or let the winning teams have their momentum leading into the finals?

[Jewels]

I still think its a crap idea, but after watching Gil the dill on 360 the other night, looks like it's here to stay.

[dimelb]

So the last Saturday in September will now permanently be the first Saturday in October?

[KTigers]

When was the last time the two qualifying final winners both lost their prelims? Has it ever happened before?
I cannot see how one game in four weeks can be good. Both Geelong & GWS were flat out of the blocks, and
we and the Western Bulldogs capitalised on it. One year is not a lot to go off but it's possible the extra bye will
even up the final series and thereby reduce the importance of where a team finishes in the eight.

[CureTheSane]

Nope. Keeping it is just defiance against pretty much everyone, as most people simply don't want it.

[dimelb]

When was the last time the two qualifying final winners both lost their prelims? Has it ever happened before?
I cannot see how one game in four weeks can be good. Both Geelong & GWS were flat out of the blocks, and
we and the Western Bulldogs capitalised on it. One year is not a lot to go off but it's possible the extra bye will
even up the final series and thereby reduce the importance of where a team finishes in the eight.

I'd like to see the spell go too.

Then there's the impact on GWS of losing Mad Dog Johnson.

[KTigers]

Losing Callan Ward to concussion in the second quarter was a big blow (he is to GWS what JPK is to us), and Johnson's
replacement Rhys Palmer was pretty average. The -10 free kick count didn't help either. The H & A season is a very long
haul and the teams that finish top 4 deserve more of a reward for it. Hopefully the bye goes.

I'd like to see the spell go too.

Then there's the impact on GWS of losing Mad Dog Johnson.

[AnnieH]

The bye is ridiculous.
The soft teams who "instigated" it, i.e. Fweo and the shinboners, we nowhere near the action.
Momentum is the name of the game.