https://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/why-...x-finals-flaws
An interesting article on NPL finals. I genuinely cannot get my head around the whole 'minor' premiers/grand final set-up. It makes absolutely no sense at all. A club could go the whole season unbeaten, come top of the league over 20 odd games and yet they are labelled 'minor' premiers (despite there being nothing 'minor' about besting all other clubs across the whole season). Another club, who may have come 4th and lost plenty across the season, hits a bit of form and wins a semi-final and final and are then labelled 'Premiers'. It's crazy.
I don't see why the two are not just separated. Whoever comes top of the league at the end of the season are the League Champions and should be celebrated accordingly. You then give the top-four finals teams (or top six if you want to add some interest) a separate trophy to play for (call it the NPL Cup or something) then let the winner of that have a different kind of glory.
You still get the cup final, the big final day etc, but the top team over the course of the season is rightfully celebrated as the best team in the competition. The team that wins the league and then goes onto win the cup can then celebrate a double.
No one remembers the 'minor' premiers, and everything seems geared towards the "grand final" which lessens the achievement of winning the league over the course of a whole season. I get this system is just mirroring the NRL and A-league, but some simple, subtle changes (basically just changing the language used and dropping the ridiculous "minor" and adding in another trophy) could really improve things.