A “wildcard” round is purely and simply nothing more than a perceived money spinner for the AFL. It is one of the more stupider ideas trotted out , and I don’t say that lightly with the history of stupidity the afl has. Think about it. If it’s a knockout round for teams from 7~10, then it’s probably between 2 teams not good enough to originally make the top 8 against 2 teams who more than likely just scraped into the 8. On top of that, the 6 teams above them get a weeks break to rest and recover from a long season. The ‘winners’ of the ‘wildcard’ round have to win 4 consecutive games without a break to just have a chance to win the flag, keeping in mind they would not have had a break since a mid season bye, whereas the top 6 will have had 2 byes since mid season to manage the players.
Then you also have the unfairness and unevenness of the fixture. To me, the only way I would even think it’s a semi good idea is if the league decides that everyone only plays each other once (then reverse the home games the next season). Less games but means the teams 7~10 won’t be as fatigued going into the finals. As it stands, they grand final would be their 27th game of the season (or 28th if the league are looking to add another H&A game)
