The

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

's 2010

finals series Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

determined the top eight final positions of the

2010 AFL season The 2010 AFL season was the 114th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured sixt ...

. The series was scheduled to occur over four weekends in September 2010, culminating with the 114th AFL/VFL Grand Final at the

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadiu ...

on 25 September 2010. However, after Collingwood and St Kilda drew in the grand final, the series was extended to five weeks, ending on 2 October, with the first Grand Final replay since

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

(and the last, due to rules changes in 2016). Collingwood won the replay by 56 points to become the 2010 premiers.

The finals system

The system is a

final eight A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

system. This system is different from the

McIntyre final eight system The McIntyre Final Eight System was devised by Ken McIntyre in addition to the McIntyre Four, Five and Six systems. It is a playoff system of the top 8 finishers in a competition to determine which two teams will play in the grand final. The tea ...

, which was previously used by the AFL . The top four teams in the eight receive what is popularly known as the "double chance" when they play in week-one qualifying finals. This means that even if a top-four team loses in the first week, it still remains in the finals, playing a semi-final the next week against the winner of an elimination final. The bottom four of the eight play knock-out games, in that only the winners survive and move on to the next week. Home-state advantage goes to the team with the higher seed in the first two weeks, to the qualifying final winners in the third week. Games in Victoria are played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, MCG, regardless of the team's usual home ground, if a crowd larger than the seating capacity of

Etihad Stadium The City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England, also known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., with a domestic football capacity of 53,400, making it the 6th-largest ...

(53,359) is expected. In the second week, the winners of the qualifying finals receive a bye to the third week. The losers of the qualifying final plays the elimination finals winners in a semi-final. In the third week, the winners of the semi-finals from week two play the winners of the qualifying finals in the first week. The winners of those matches move on to the

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, MCG in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

.AFL Finals System Explained (AFL.com.au)
/ref>

Qualification

won the minor premiership, followed by 2009 Grand finalists and , while giving a second chance spot in the top four. and , the only non- Victorian clubs in the finals series, finished equal on points, but Sydney earned a game against on percentage. finished 7th despite a poor start to the season.

Summary of results

Week one

First qualifying final (Collingwood vs. Western Bulldogs)

Second qualifying final (Geelong vs. St Kilda)

First elimination final (Sydney vs. Carlton)

Second elimination final (Fremantle vs. Hawthorn)

Week two

First semi-final (Western Bulldogs vs. Sydney)

Second semi-final (Geelong vs. Fremantle)

Week three

First preliminary final (Collingwood vs. Geelong)

Second preliminary final (St Kilda vs. Western Bulldogs)

Weeks four and five

Grand final and replay (Collingwood vs. St Kilda)

''Note: this article covers both the drawn grand final and the grand final replay''

Scorecards

Notes and references

External links

AFL official website

RealFooty by The Age (Melbourne) Online

SportsAustralia (news and views)
{{DEFAULTSORT:2010 Afl Finals Series

AFL Finals Series The Australian Football League finals series, more generally known as the AFL finals, and known from 1897 until 1989 as the Victorian Football League finals series or VFL finals, is a playoff tournament held at the end of each AFL season to deter ...

Afl Finals Series, 2010