OPINION

THE AFL head honchos sat back with Cheshire cat-like grins during a minor round that featured more shock upsets and nailbiting finishes than any season in recent memory.

But its success in creating an equalised competition was followed by an absolute flop of a finals series where just one of eight games was decided by less than six goals.

Not only did September suck, there is also a distinct feeling among fans not wearing yellow and black (or red, white and blue last season) the AFL has produced two pretty ordinary premiers in the past two seasons.

Richmond, and the Western Bulldogs a year ago, captured the imagination of the footy world with the fairytale runs to the flag. The Tigers’ record rise from 13th on the ladder a season ago was just as unlikely as the Dogs winning from seventh place in 2016.

But will they be remembered as champion sides or just teams that found form at the right time and made the most of advantageous situations?

The Dogs feel like a bit of a flash in the pan after they fell all the way to 10th while trying to defend their premiership. A similar drop by the Tigers would be stunning but its telling they’re viewed as $8 outsiders today to go back-to-back — well behind Adelaide ($4.50), GWS ($4.50) and Sydney ($5.50) in the premiership market.

An even competition keeps fans of all clubs engaged longer during the minor round but it feels like it’s hurting the final product too.

The league doesn’t want a situation like the English Premier League where only a handful of clubs have a sniff each year — or the NBA where the league’s best players are being concentrated at a few locations.

But you also want a grand final product that highlights the very best of your game and a winner that can be celebrated for being a genuinely brilliant football team. It’s debatable whether the Tigers fit this description.

Dustin Martin and Alex Rance are champions in any era and Trent Cotchin and Jack Riewoldt are fine players. But remember when it used to take a midfield of Voss, Akermanis, Black and Lappin or Judd, Cousins and Kerr to win a flag?

In terms of game style, you can hardly argue Richmond’s win was a win for entertaining football either.

It’s a little overblown but coaches often look to the reigning premier when deciding what additions to make to their gameplan over summer.

What’s the lesson from the Tigers? Surround a few stars with a bunch of battlers and just pressure the bejesus out of the opposition.

There’s nothing wrong with contested ball remaining king but a Crows win would have been a win for attacking, high-scoring footy. Instead the grinders won out and the game’s highlight reel was stunningly short.

The game didn’t exactly bode well for players standing 194cm or higher either. There’s always going to be room for one ruckman but if key forwards can’t get a kick on grand final day what’s the point of playing them (and in turn the key defenders that follow them around)?

The biggest winner from season 2017 is probably the coaching fraternity. Hardwick’s ability to move from the hangman’s noose to the premiership dais in less than 12 months will have boards everywhere pulling back their trigger finger when faced with the decision on whether to sack their coaches.

VICTORIAN BIAS? IT’S HARD TO ARGUE WITH THESE NUMBERS

Richmond made it five wins for Victorian sides against interstate opponents in the past five grand finals.

Adelaide joined Sydney (2014, 2016), West Coast (2015), and Fremantle (2014) in failing to fire at the MCG in the big one.

If you want to look back a little further, Sydney — with a 10-point win against Hawthorn in 2012 — is the only interstate team since the great Lions sides of the early 2000s to defeat a Victorian opponent in a grand final.

The AFL is left with a perception problem until this rot ends. It’s telling that its past four premiers all defeated a travelling opponent which finished higher on the ladder.

There’s no doubt Richmond played the ground better than the Crows, who only produced one convincing performance in four games at the home of football in 2017.

There were also plenty of SA-based fans crying of umpiring bias after the game — and while even the most diehard supporters should be able to admit it didn’t have a serious impact on the final result — there’s plenty of coaches out there who talk about the impact a noisy crowd can have on the whistleblowers.

So what’s the solution?

Rotating the grand final Super Bowl-style isn’t going to happen any time soon because the game’s future at the MCG is locked up for another 20 years.

But the powers-that-be need a team from SA, WA, NSW or Queensland to win again soon to silence calls like those that came from retiring Eagle Sam Butler on Saturday.

“I’m looking for equality in the AFL and we haven’t had it ... there’s still that VFL boys club in the back pulling the strings,” Butler told Triple M.

“I’m telling you what, the MCG — fair enough it’s the biggest stadium in Australia, but why do we have to have the grand final there every year? Tell me one reason ...

“Rotate it. Do it per capita on how many teams are there, so half the teams are in Melbourne, you should have half the grand finals in Melbourne. You’ve got two teams in Perth ... they should have two every 18 years.”