Wildcard Finals.

[dejavoodoo44]

Gee Kozie has missed some shots he’d usually nail

Yes, very off night. Could have almost killed the game in the second quarter.

[dejavoodoo44]

Carlton have put on plenty of pressure and defended well, but Melbourne's attacking efforts have been painful to watch.

[stevoswan]

Free kicks 25 to 13 to Carlton.....oh dear, we have a new fairytale. Piss off.

[stellation]

Both games were entertaining, and genuinely had a finals feel about them from the players to the fans. I assume this concept is here for a little while yet.

[Nico]

Free kicks 25 to 13 to Carlton.....oh dear, we have a new fairytale. Piss off.

How on earth they missed a couple of very obvious head high tackles on Melbourne in the first half is beyond me. I think those umpires were the C team. One boundary umpire is unlikely to go any further in the finals. He had a shocker. He must be having nightmares. There were a couple boundary throw ins that should have been called back.

[imuninformedtwo]

Both games were entertaining, and genuinely had a finals feel about them from the players to the fans. I assume this concept is here for a little while yet.

It is, and largely for commercial reasons.

But I do wonder if the Melbourne media mafia would have been in such a self-congratulatory lather if it was a case of Port vs GWS, and the Gold Coast v Norf in the two wildcard finals.

[Sandridge]

I greatly enjoyed the Wildcard Finals but I think it was because, for a couple of days, the focus wasn't on us !

[stellation]

It is, and largely for commercial reasons.

But I do wonder if the Melbourne media mafia would have been in such a self-congratulatory lather if it was a case of Port vs GWS, and the Gold Coast v Norf in the two wildcard finals.

I daresay you’re right, dear boy. I fear a clear sign that I’m getting older is while enjoying the games I did find myself wondering “how much extra money are they making off this? I’d love to take at the books for all of it…” and I was relatively serious that I’d probably enjoy perusing through it over a cup of joe.

[imuninformedtwo]

I daresay you’re right, dear boy. I fear a clear sign that I’m getting older is while enjoying the games I did find myself wondering “how much extra money are they making off this? I’d love to take at the books for all of it…” and I was relatively serious that I’d probably enjoy perusing through it over a cup of joe.

Someone I know who's tangentally involved in all this says it adds about $5m to the TV rights just for wildcard round, and then there's the ticket sales etc.

But they said the real appeal for the TV rights holders is rather than say, St Kilda fans dropping off in rd15 when it's obvious they're not going to make the 8, they hang on till near the end. And Carlton, being such a big club, was exhibit A for the revenue upside of the formula this year.