I think people who know me will know that I despise the so-called Australian culture of the end-of-season “Finals Series” in football.
Let me be very clear, it’s not that these games are not exciting, far from it! They are well supported by fans and players, and frankly the more games the better.
What irks me most of all is the credence, emphasis and priority that players and coaches place on winning “The Grand Final” as compared to finishing in the top two places in a division and earning promotion to a higher division.
There seems to be no respect toward teams that over an entire season prove that they are the most consistent and certainly the best.
Further, I just cannot fathom how anyone then has the temerity to call the achievement of finishing top of the points ladder “Minor” as in Minor Premiers!
My understanding is that the finals series is an NRL/AFL concept where a team finishing in the middle of the points ladder at the end of the season qualifies to participate in a “Consolation Trophy”.
The winners of this consolation trophy are then treated like heroes and adulated and even called “Champions” after receiving a trophy in the presence of a crowd, whilst the most consistent team over a season are not given the opportunity to celebrate in front of a crowd and given the credit they richly deserve for their achievement.
The entire “Finals” approach is simply an Australian cultural thing derived from NRL/AFL, and while I do not agree with the concept, I accept that as these codes have no promotion and relegation in their competitions, that the “Finals Series” is necessary from a financial point of view in the professional level of the game.
Football is a global game with its own traditions – that’s why Australia participates in the “World” Cup.
In football, not only do we have promotion and relegation which offer much excitement for fans, and players alike, we also have a separate competition in the “Australia Cup”, a nationwide knockout competition.
This gives teams of every level in the game the opportunity to play against professional teams in David v Goliath battles. A competition that has that many teams competing, it takes 10 months to complete and culminates in a Final.
Finally, I think that all Finals are Grand, there is no need to add superlatives. No need for elimination finals; qualifying finals; preliminary finals; finals; Grand Finals and Great Grand Finals!
The definition of the word final:
“The last game in a sports tournament or other competition, which will decide the winner of the tournament”.
