Simple finals systems
Final three
|
Match |
Team 1 |
|
Team 2
|
| Week 1 |
A |
Rank 2 |
v |
Rank 3
|
| Week 2 |
C |
Rank 1 |
v |
Winner A
|
| Champion |
|
Winner C |
|
|
Knockout four
|
Match |
Team 1 |
|
Team 2
|
| Week 1 |
A |
Rank 2 |
v |
Rank 3
|
|
B |
Rank 1 |
v |
Rank 4
|
| Week 2 |
C |
Winner B |
v |
Winner A
|
| Champion |
|
Winner C |
|
|
Simple final six
|
Match |
Team 1 |
|
Team 2
|
| Week 1 |
A |
Rank 4 |
v |
Rank 5
|
|
B |
Rank 3 |
v |
Rank 6
|
| Week 2 |
C |
Rank 2 |
v |
Winner B
|
|
D |
Rank 1 |
v |
Winner A
|
| Week 3 |
E |
Winner D |
v |
Winner C
|
| Champion |
|
Winner E |
|
|
McIntyre finals systems
Page-McIntyre system
| Round |
Match |
Name |
Team 1 |
|
Team 2
|
| 1 |
A |
2nd Semi Final |
Rank 3 |
v |
Rank 4
|
|
B |
1st Semi Final |
Rank 1 |
v |
Rank 2
|
| 2 |
C |
Preliminary Final |
Loser B |
v |
Winner A
|
| 3 |
D |
Grand Final |
Winner B |
v |
Winner C
|
Assuming that each team has a 50% chance of winning each match, the probability of each team will win the championship is represented in the table.
| Team rank |
Probability
|
| 1 |
37.5%
|
| 2 |
37.5%
|
| 3 |
12.5%
|
| 4 |
12.5%
|
McIntyre final five system
| Round |
Match |
Name |
Team 1 |
|
Team 2
|
| 1 |
A |
Elimination Final |
Rank 4 |
v |
Rank 5
|
|
B |
Qualifying Final |
Rank 2 |
v |
Rank 3
|
| 2 |
C |
2nd Semi Final |
Loser B |
v |
Winner A
|
|
D |
1st Semi Final |
Rank 1 |
v |
Winner B
|
| 3 |
E |
Preliminary Final |
Loser D |
v |
Winner C
|
| 4 |
F |
Grand Final |
Winner D |
v |
Winner E
|
| Team rank |
Probability
|
| 1 |
37.5%
|
| 2 |
25.0%
|
| 3 |
25.0%
|
| 4 |
6.25%
|
| 5 |
6.25%
|
First McIntyre final six system
| Round |
Match |
Name |
Team 1 |
|
Team 2
|
| 1 |
A |
2nd Elimination Final |
Rank 5 |
v |
Rank 6
|
|
B |
1st Elimination Final |
Rank 3 |
v |
Rank 4
|
|
C |
Qualifying Final |
Rank 1 |
v |
Rank 2
|
| 2 |
D |
2nd Semi Final |
Loser C |
v |
Winner A
|
|
E |
1st Semi Final |
Winner C |
v |
Winner B
|
| 3 |
F |
Preliminary Final |
Loser E |
v |
Winner D
|
| 4 |
G |
Grand Final |
Winner E |
v |
Winner F
|
| Team rank |
Probability
|
| 1 |
25.00%
|
| 2 |
25.00%
|
| 3 |
18.75%
|
| 4 |
18.75%
|
| 5 |
6.25%
|
| 6 |
6.25%
|
Second McIntyre final six system
| Round |
Match |
Name |
Team 1 |
|
Team 2
|
| 1 |
A |
2nd Elimination Final |
Rank 4 |
v |
Rank 5
|
|
B |
1st Elimination Final |
Rank 3 |
v |
Rank 6
|
|
C |
Qualifying Final |
Rank 1 |
v |
Rank 2
|
| 2 |
D |
2nd Semi Final |
Loser C |
v |
2nd highest ranked winner from A, B
|
|
E |
1st Semi Final |
Winner C |
v |
1st highest ranked winner from A, B
|
| 3 |
F |
Preliminary Final |
Loser E |
v |
Winner D
|
| 4 |
G |
Grand Final |
Winner E |
v |
Winner F
|
| Team rank |
Probability
|
| 1 |
25.00%
|
| 2 |
25.00%
|
| 3 |
18.75%
|
| 4 |
12.50%
|
| 5 |
12.50%
|
| 6 |
6.25%
|
McIntyre final eight system
| Round |
Match |
Name |
Team 1 |
|
Team 2
|
| 1 |
A |
2nd Elimination Final |
Rank 4 |
v |
Rank 5
|
|
B |
1st Elimination Final |
Rank 3 |
v |
Rank 6
|
|
C |
2nd Qualifying Final |
Rank 2 |
v |
Rank 7
|
|
D |
1st Qualifying Final |
Rank 1 |
v |
Rank 8
|
| 2 |
E |
2nd Semi Final |
4th highest ranked winner from A, B, C, D |
v |
2nd highest ranked loser from A, B, C, D
|
|
F |
1st Semi Final |
3rd highest ranked winner from A, B, C, D |
v |
1st highest ranked loser from A, B, C, D
|
| 3 |
G |
2nd Preliminary Final |
2nd highest ranked winner from A, B, C, D |
v |
Winner F
|
|
H |
1st Preliminary Final |
1st highest ranked winner from A, B, C, D |
v |
Winner E
|
| 4 |
I |
Grand Final |
Winner G |
v |
Winner H
|
| Team rank |
Probability
|
| 1 |
18.750%
|
| 2 |
18.750%
|
| 3 |
15.625%
|
| 4 |
12.500%
|
| 5 |
12.500%
|
| 6 |
9.375%
|
| 7 |
6.250%
|
| 8 |
6.250%
|
Other finals systems
'Super League (Europe)' final six
This is the top six play-offs system used in Super League (Europe). It is basically the McIntyre final four system with an extra week at the beginning to reduce the bottom four teams to two.
|
Match |
Team 1 |
|
Team 2
|
| Week 1 |
A |
Rank 4 |
v |
Rank 5
|
|
B |
Rank 3 |
v |
Rank 6
|
| Week 2 |
C |
Winner B |
v |
Winner A
|
|
D |
Rank 1 |
v |
Rank 2
|
| Week 3 |
E |
Loser D |
v |
Winner C
|
| Week 4 |
F |
Winner D |
v |
Winner E
|
| Champion |
|
Winner F |
|
|
| Team rank |
Probability
|
| 1 |
37.50%
|
| 2 |
37.50%
|
| 3 |
6.25%
|
| 4 |
6.25%
|
| 5 |
6.25%
|
| 6 |
6.25%
|
'ARL' final seven
|
Match |
Team 1 |
|
Team 2
|
| Week 1 |
A |
Rank 2 |
v |
Rank 3
|
|
B |
Rank 4 |
v |
Rank 5
|
|
C |
Rank 6 |
v |
Rank 7
|
| Week 2 |
D |
Rank 1 |
v |
Winner A
|
|
E |
Loser A |
v |
Loser B
|
|
F |
Winner B |
v |
Winner C
|
| Week 3 |
G |
Winner D |
v |
Winner F
|
|
H |
Winner E |
v |
Loser D
|
| Week 4 |
I |
Winner G |
v |
Winner H
|
| Champion |
|
Winner I |
|
|
'ARL' final eight
According to Matthew O'Neill (http://www.rleague.com/article.php?id=19486), "Back in 1996 the ARL had the perfect Finals setup, which has since been adopted by the AFL with great success. The ARL used a similar model in 1995 but was better in 1996 due to the swapover pool to avoid teams playing each other twice during the Finals, which could have been the case in 1995 except both Brisbane and Cronulla went out the back door."
1995
This is what actually happened in 1995 rather than the system.
|
Match |
Team 1 |
|
Team 2
|
| Week 1 |
A |
Rank 1 |
v |
Rank 4
|
|
B |
Rank 2 |
v |
Rank 3
|
|
C |
Rank 5 |
v |
Rank 8
|
|
D |
Rank 6 |
v |
Rank 7
|
| Week 2 |
E |
Loser A |
v |
Winner C
|
|
F |
Loser B |
v |
Winner D
|
| Week 3 |
G |
Winner A |
v |
Winner E
|
|
H |
Winner B |
v |
Winner F
|
| Week 4 |
I |
Winner G |
v |
Winner H
|
| Champion |
|
Winner I |
|
|
1996
|
Match |
Team 1 |
|
Team 2
|
| Week 1 |
A |
Rank 1 |
v |
Rank 4
|
|
B |
Rank 2 |
v |
Rank 3
|
|
C |
Rank 5 |
v |
Rank 8
|
|
D |
Rank 6 |
v |
Rank 7
|
| Week 2 |
E |
Loser A |
v |
Winner D
|
|
F |
Loser B |
v |
Winner C
|
| Week 3 |
G |
Winner A |
v |
Winner F
|
|
H |
Winner B |
v |
Winner E
|
| Week 4 |
I |
Winner G |
v |
Winner H
|
| Champion |
|
Winner I |
|
|
'AFL' final eight (2000 - )
|
Match |
Team 1 |
|
Team 2
|
| Week 1 |
A |
Rank 1 |
v |
Rank 4
|
|
B |
Rank 2 |
v |
Rank 3
|
|
C |
Rank 5 |
v |
Rank 8
|
|
D |
Rank 6 |
v |
Rank 7
|
| Week 2 |
E |
Loser A |
v |
Winner C
|
|
F |
Loser B |
v |
Winner D
|
| Week 3 |
G |
Winner A |
v |
Winner F
|
|
H |
Winner B |
v |
Winner E
|
| Week 4 |
I |
Winner G |
v |
Winner H
|
| Champion |
|
Winner I |
|
|
| Team rank |
Probability
|
| 1 |
18.75%
|
| 2 |
18.75%
|
| 3 |
18.75%
|
| 4 |
18.75%
|
| 5 |
6.25%
|
| 6 |
6.25%
|
| 7 |
6.25%
|
| 8 |
6.25%
|
'NBL' final eight (2004 - ) [1]
|
Match |
Team 1 |
|
Team 2
|
| Round 1 |
A |
Rank 5 |
v |
Rank 8
|
|
B |
Rank 6 |
v |
Rank 7
|
| Round 2 |
C |
Rank 4 |
v |
Winner A
|
|
D |
Rank 3 |
v |
Winner B
|
| Round 3 |
E |
Rank 1 |
v |
Winner C
|
|
F |
Rank 2 |
v |
Winner D
|
| Round 4 |
G |
Winner E |
v |
Winner F
|
| Champion |
|
Winner G |
|
|
'NRL' final ten
|
Match |
Team 1 |
|
Team 2
|
| Week 1 |
A |
Rank 3 |
v |
Rank 6
|
|
B |
Rank 4 |
v |
Rank 5
|
|
C |
Rank 7 |
v |
Rank 10
|
|
D |
Rank 8 |
v |
Rank 9
|
| Week 2 |
E |
Rank 1 |
v |
Winner A
|
|
F |
Rank 2 |
v |
Winner B
|
|
G |
Loser A |
v |
Winner C
|
|
H |
Loser B |
v |
Winner D
|
| Week 3 |
I |
Loser E |
v |
Winner G
|
|
J |
Loser F |
v |
Winner H
|
| Week 4 |
K |
Winner E |
v |
Winner I
|
|
L |
Winner F |
v |
Winner J
|
| Week 5 |
M |
Winner K |
v |
Winner L
|
| Champion |
|
Winner M |
|
|
External links
AFL finals system explained (1931-1999) The McIntyre systems used in the Australian Football League [dead link]