One or two games out of 200-odd in a season really wasn’t that big a deal, but the AFL cracked the proverbial walnut with a sledgehammer with the pre-finals bye, which, while it gave teams 5-8 the chance of a week’s break they hadn’t previously enjoyed, meant that qualifying final winners (who got another week off) now risked having too much rest, some fronting up for a preliminary final having played one game in about 27 days.
