Draft bonus Cash prize Why minor premiership should carry greater reward
If you asked most footy lovers about the McClelland Trophy, chances are you’d get little more than a puzzled look in response.
It’s a piece of silverware that sits somewhere deep in AFL headquarters and is, in fact, awarded for one of the toughest tasks in footy â€" winning the minor premiership. It’s also the only prize for that feat.
The Hawks won the minor premiership and the flag in 2013.Credit:Justin McManus
The home-and-away season and the finals are almost like two different competitions and, in footy, a premiership is obviously the ultimate prize. Only six of the past 25 minor premiers have gone on to win the flag with the last one being Hawthorn back in 2013. The rest are consigned to history.
But finishing on top is tough. It takes consistency and relentlessness across 22 games, with enormous endurance and meticulous planning. So why doesn’t it receive more recognition?
I’m no soccer lover, but in most leagues around the world there are no finals. Whoever finishes on top is the champion. In basketball, the NBA, for instance, has a seven-game play-off series between every match-up, ensuring it basically becomes a war of attrition. There’s less luck involved than in a single game and â€" like in soccer â€" it’s tougher to argue the best team hasn’t won.
That’s not to say I don’t love our system and the unpredictability of AFL finals. But now, especially in COVID-19 times, there’s less incentive to finish on top than there should be.
Under one of the old systems, first would play eighth and second would play seventh for a spot in the preliminary final. That’s considerably easier than playing another top-four team.
There were still instances like Geelong in 1997, who finished second but were beaten by my North Melbourne in seventh (we should have been higher, if not for injuries). And while the Cats then had to go to Adelaide and were sent packing in straight sets, that type of situation was rare.
So how can we ensure there’s more riding on a minor premiership? It’s topical because we’ve got such a big game between Geelong and Melbourne on Saturday night. These types of games don’t roll around all that often. In 1998, it was first versus second when we played the Bulldogs in the final round. At that stage both clubs only had around 20,000 members but there were still just under 70,000 fans at the MCG.
There’s always talk of keeping your cards close to your chest as you get nearer to September, but for us and the Bulldogs there was no holding back. The Kangaroos prevailed by five points. It meant something, even if we ultimately ended up losing the grand final and the Dogs didn’t make it.
In 2002, Brisbane and Port Adelaide met in round 22 with the Power winning a thriller by six points before the Lions ended their premiership hopes a few weeks later in a preliminary final. Remarkably as great as the Lions were â€" and I rate them as the greatest team ever â€" they never won the minor premiership.
The top two teams have only met in the final round once since â€" in 2005 â€" when Adelaide beat West Coast by eight points, only to lose to the Eagles in September. So, history tells us finishing on top is no guarantee of success. But it’s also why minor premiers â€" such as Ross Lyon’s St Kilda and Fremantle teams, who finished on top without winning the flag â€" deserve more.
Could it be added draft compensation, such as an extra second-round pick or perhaps soft cap relief? In the world of equalisation, I think it would be unfair for a top team to get that type of advantage. Could it be a minor premiership flag of sorts? Maybe not. The most obvious reward is monetary.
Pre-COVID-19, the prizemoney for winning the premiership topped $1 million. We’ve thrown big money at sponsored pre-season competitions before, so why can’t we do the same in this situation? Imagine what a $500,000 bonus would mean for the Demons or Cats in the current climate.
A victory over Geelong would give the Demons their first minor premiership since 1964.Credit:Getty Images
But this is also about more than money. It’s about recognising what an achievement it really is. For Sydney in 1996 winning the minor premiership should have been a bigger deal considering the struggles that team went through finding its way in the harbour city. Now, 25 years later, it would be just as historic for Melbourne.
Given it’s been 57 years since the Dees’ last minor premiership, should they defeat Geelong at the Cattery, they’ll have every right to savour their accomplishment because of how difficult it is to do. And we, as an industry, should applaud and reward whoever comes out on top.
Two-time AFL premiership captain and columnist for The Age.
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