The top-six knockout structure was voted in at the start of the year and has received positive reviews at the back of of its debut season for incentivising mid-table sides and promoting attacking football.

Tolland Wolves Football Club president Maurie Hogan voted in favour of the proposal and remains a fan of the revised format.

“When the top-six structure was first tabled, we discussed it at length and most of us were in agreement that it would help the competition,” Hogan said.

However, the Wolves figurehead believes one element wasn’t considered, one that could seriously hurt clubs in September.

“There’s one less week of finals for the top two teams under the new system and that means suspended players could miss out on an extra knockout game,” Hogan said.

“In the past, players who were suspended into the finals series would usually have another week to work with.”

Tolland’s Nick Tsipiras is a player who falls under this category.

Tsipiras was handed a seven-week suspension in round 12 due to an accumulation of six yellow cards and will now miss the first game of Tolland’s finals series, regardless of whether they finish in the top two and earn a week off. 

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