THIS year has seen our first ever Cricket World Cup 'super over' and our first ever Wimbledon fifth-set tiebreaker. But will we get our first ever AFL Grand Final 'golden point'?
Gillon McLachlan certainly hopes so.
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The AFL CEO watched on during that famous night in July as England toppled New Zealand at Lord's and Novak Djokovic just got over the line against Roger Federer at Wimbledon.
His mind couldn't help but wander to the last Saturday in September.
"It's been one of those years," McLachlan said on Thursday.
"Every one in three games has been an upset. Every one in five games has been decided by less than 10 points. It's been one of those years.
"I was up that night watching the World Cup and Wimbledon. I did look ahead to this.
"It would be amazing if it happened and it went into extra-time. It would be an incredible thing. Whether it got that deep, I don't know. But it would be something special I think."
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The new rules for drawn Grand Finals, introduced in 2016, are as follows:
- After a six-minute break, additional time of two five-minutes halves (plus time-on for stoppages) will be played.
- In the first additional period, each club shall play towards the same end that they were playing to at the completion of ordinary time.
- The siren will sound at the end of the first period and clubs will change ends for the second period without delay.
- At the conclusion of the second period, the club that has scored the highest points will win.
- If the scores are still tied at the conclusion of the second period of additional time, the siren will not sound and play will continue until a club has scored a goal or behind.
McLachlan also credited Greater Western Sydney for its ability to qualify for the AFL Grand Final, just eight years after the club was introduced into the League as an expansion side.
"It's a big effort," McLachlan said.
"It's such a tough competition. We know that supporters of a number of clubs who have been around for 100-plus years … they'd be thrilled to be in this position.
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"To do it in eight years … we know the story of Canberra and the west of Sydney. They are in growth markets and we know the injuries they've had, particularly this year.
"To work through all of that, to get here and to have the September they've had … in the last six weeks, they've won by four, two, three and one points.
"They've had injuries, they've had suspensions and they've had adversity. I reckon they've got here and everyone feels they've earned it. That's great, that there's a lot of support out there for the hard work and the effort to get here."
