Who are the true champs?

EVERY Saturday Glen, Jason and Sean talk about big issues in sport locally, nationally and internationally.

With the NRL and AFL semi-finals kicking off this weekend they share they debate which is better, a minor premiership or a grand final victory?

Jason Gibbs: I feel very conflicted when it comes to this debate.

As a devoted and passionate English Premier League fan it’s always been about premiership. A trophy that fittingly rewards the team that was consistently the best over the course of the season.

Football, particularly in Europe, is a different beast though with some fans knowing a premiership is out of the question so they savour a good “cup run or win”.

The premiership still holds pride of place though with some fans, I’m looking at you Liverpool, talking about that time they won it all back in the 90s.

However, having said all that, some of my fondest memories are grand final wins.

I remember the Brisbane Strikers NSL grand final win in 1997 like it was yesterday.

My dad took me to the game at what was then Lang Park.

Riding the train to the ground you could feel the excitement levels rising the closer we got the stadium.

Pushing our way through the crowds at either end we climbed to the top of the stands to grab our seats – a pictureperfect view of the entire pitch and the game playing out in front of us.

Frank Farina opened the scoring for the Strikers in the 47th minute and I thought the place was going to collapse.

Rod Brown was the other goal scorer that day and we won 2-0 – my father and I leaving the stadium with the smoke from Sydney United flares tickling our throats and stinging our eyes.

It’s a day I’ll never forget – maybe there’s a place for premierships and grand finals.

Glen McCullough: Having grown up in a sporting nation obsessed with grand finals, it’s something I’ve never thought much about.

But on reflection we maybe don’t give enough credit to teams that finish top of the home-and-away season.

There seems to be more talk and interest in the NRL on which teams might sneak into seventh or eighth place and “earn” a possible grand final shot.

We are talking teams here that have lost up to to half their premiership games but can still challenge for the title.

Sounds like a joke really, but the more teams that are in finals, the more games that are played and the more supporters still involved means the more money television stations stand to make, albeit they pay a “fortune” for that right.

This will never happen, but if you want a major way to finish the season, how about first versus second in a championship decider with the minor premiers having the right to a rematch if they are rolled.

It would at least have teams aiming to finish in the top two at season’s end, not happy to stagger into eighth spot.

Sean Teuma: For me personally nothing beats the buildup and anticipation of a grand final, and by extension to a finals series as well.

How good is it when your team is making a run towards the big one, knocking off quality scalps along the way and then winning it all?

There’s nothing better in the sporting world, and by 10pm tonight I’ll be experiencing that feeling once more when both the Demons and Rabbitohs qualify for their deciders.

I can see the attraction of rewarding teams for finishing first past the post in a league such as the EPL.

With a competition spanning 38 weeks there’s little time to have a finals series without cutting into off-season time, and it makes sense with each team playing each other both home and away.

As for leagues such as the NRL and AFL, the finals systems currently in place work perfectly, well except for the fact the league can’t sell out a stadium and Aussie rules can’t find a big enough stadium to fit everyone inside!