Notes

History

This site exists due to an interesting sequence of events. As you can imagine, I live in Melbourne. Although I did follow AFL lightly when I was younger, it was only when I went to my first game in the middle of 2021 (in between lockdowns) that I began to properly follow it. Then I remembered that back in 2019, a friend and colleague of mine had mentioned he was trying to build a Brownlow medallist predictor (surprise, surprise) and was using a site to get relevant data (the site, of course, was www.afltables.com). Now during this time (back in 2021), I happened to be working on a work-related project that required stronger fluency in Python. So what better way to practise my Python than by practising web scraping that very same site. I was well aware of fitzRoy (the popular R package) but I wanted to code from scratch.

Of course as time went on, I discovered other sources of information that enriched (and sometimes challenged) the original set of data I extracted, and of course I began extracting those too. It would be safe to say that I had fallen down the rabbit hole, but the act of collecting truly is both therapeutic and satisfying, and is what I imagine allowed hobbies such as stamp collecting to become not uncommon. In my profession, a lot of the work I do involves writing SQL queries, but it so happened that the project I was now working on required expertise in data modelling. What fortunate timing since this was exactly what I needed to do with this mountain of data that I now had. So the next step then became integrating all the extract data into a local database through a robust data model. The only shame there was that the project leaned towards DFM (dimensional fact model) modelling whereas I preferred 3NF (third normal form) modelling, which lends itself to being more flexible and error-avoidant with this domain of data.

After all the effort (and further effort after a couple of missteps here and there), it happened that the very same project at work would soon require me to be become more familiar with front-end and API development. Well, at this point, why not just dive off the deep end and try make a site, right? (The API-related stuff also somehow became related to this site, but of course it was to help quench that thirst for more data.)

Round Logic

Due to the need to align multiple leagues to a single convention, I have taken the liberty to update round names/numbers as I have seen fit, and as a result, it may not align with the convention of other sources. Below I outline the principles applied.

  1. Round Number Uniqueness: In any given season, a team cannot play more than one match in a round. The reasoning is that if I were to (hypothetically) say that a John W. Smith played for North Adelaide in round 10 during the 1903 SAFA season, this should refer to only one match, not multiple possible matches.
  2. Round Number Parsimony: Where reasonable and appropriate, reduce the total number of rounds. E.g. For the 1906 WAFA season, the four matches played across 04/08/1906 and 11/08/1906 fall into a single (split) round without violating the first principle. This is similar to the 1906 VFL season wherein the four matches played across 04/08/1906 and 11/08/1906 fall into a single (split) round.
  3. Round Number Alignment: When a match is moved (either earlier or later) due to a postponement (e.g. inclement weather) or an advancement (e.g. moving a match earlier to be a curtain-raiser for an interstate game), its round number should still be its original assigned number. E.g. For the 1901 WAFA season, the match played between North Fremantle and South Fremantle on 07/09/1901 is still considered to be part of the round that includes the two matches played on 24/08/1901. This is similar to the 1903 VFL season wherein the match played between Geelong and Carlton on 03/08/1903 is still considered to be part of round 2.
  4. Finals System Definition: A system by which all participants of the finals series can potentially be the premiers, and the fixtures (with the exception of systems where matchups are assigned by lottery) are determined by the cumulative results of all previously scheduled matches (i.e. minor premiership ladder), and often, though not always (e.g. 1898-1900 and 1924 VFL seasons), the participants are a subset of all participating teams for that season (e.g. final four out of twelve teams). By this definition, play-in matches (e.g. the "wildcard rounds" of the 2023 VFL season wherein the matches were 7th v 10th and 8th v 9th by definition of the season format) would be considered part of the finals series. All matches within a finals series would be considered a finals match.
  5. Finals Round Uniqueness: Similar to the first principle, the nomenclature of finals within a system is such that it aligns as closely as possible to popular convention, but may be renamed so that it would be impossible to play a type of round more than once. E.g. It would not be possible for a team to play an elimination final twice within a season. The exception to this are round-robin finals (c.f. 1897 VFL season) and replays.
  6. Finals Round Number: The numbering of finals matches of the same type (e.g. Semi Final 1 and Semi Final 2) aligns with the definition of the finals system (e.g. Semi Final 2 is 1st v 3rd in the Second Amended Argus System) and not (necessarily) the chronological order in which the matches were played.
  7. Finals Match Host: The host of a finals match aligns with the definition of the finals system and not (necessarily) by association with the venue. E.g. In the 2000 AFL season, Essendon's home ground was Docklands Stadium and Melbourne's home ground was the Melbourne Cricket Ground, and although the grand final was (and typically is) played at the MCG, that does not mean that Melbourne was the home team; by definition of the AFL Final Eight System, Essendon was the home team. Note that this also means that for finals series using the Page-McIntyre System that the home team for the grand final is always the winner of second semi final, which often is, though not necessarily, the higher-ranked team during the minor premiership.