How a margin sweep works
Everyone chips in the same entry. The board is a set of margin bands — "Pies by 1–9", "Lions by 25–39", and so on — and each band is drawn blind to one person. When the siren goes, you take the final margin, find the band it lands in, and that person takes the pot.
Nobody picks their own band. That's the entire point: the bloke who hasn't watched a game since 1998 has exactly the same chance as whoever won the tipping comp. One name per band. If you have more people than bands, add bands; if you have fewer, some people draw twice — decide which before you draw, not after.
Two things must be written on the board before a single name goes in: every band belongs to a specific team (a neutral "1–9" band halves your outcomes and doubles your arguments), and a "by 1" band means won by at least one point. Zero is not in anyone's band unless you've deliberately created a drawn-match band.
Choosing your bands — the real question
The rule of thumb is one band per person, split evenly between the two teams. Ten people, five bands each way. Twenty people, ten each way. Even numbers are easiest, which is why organisers quietly hope for an even number.
The bands themselves should be narrow at the bottom and wide at the top, because close results are far more common than blowouts and you want the interesting range chopped finely. Here's a starting grid — adjust to taste, nothing here is sacred:
| People | Bands per team | AFL margins | NRL margins |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 4 | 1–12 · 13–29 · 30–49 · 50+ | 1–6 · 7–12 · 13–20 · 21+ |
| 12 | 6 | 1–6 · 7–14 · 15–24 · 25–39 · 40–59 · 60+ | 1–2 · 3–6 · 7–12 · 13–18 · 19–26 · 27+ |
| 16 | 8 | 1–4 · 5–9 · 10–17 · 18–26 · 27–38 · 39–52 · 53–69 · 70+ | 1–2 · 3–4 · 5–6 · 7–10 · 11–14 · 15–20 · 21–28 · 29+ |
| 20 | 10 | 1–3 · 4–7 · 8–12 · 13–18 · 19–25 · 26–33 · 34–44 · 45–57 · 58–74 · 75+ | 1 · 2–3 · 4–6 · 7–8 · 9–12 · 13–16 · 17–20 · 21–26 · 27–34 · 35+ |
| 24 | 12 | 1–2 · 3–5 · 6–9 · 10–14 · 15–19 · 20–25 · 26–32 · 33–40 · 41–50 · 51–63 · 64–80 · 81+ | 1 · 2 · 3–4 · 5–6 · 7–8 · 9–10 · 11–13 · 14–16 · 17–20 · 21–25 · 26–33 · 34+ |
Two things people get wrong. First, they make the top band too small — "50+" in the AFL is not a dead ticket, Grand Finals get away from teams regularly, so somebody should hold it. Second, with an odd number of people they improvise on the day. Don't: either add a "match drawn" band, or let one person (usually the organiser) take two, and announce it before the draw.
AFL versus NRL — why the bands differ
Copying the same margins into both codes is the most common mistake in office sweeps, and it quietly hands someone a much better ticket than everyone else.
AFL pays six for a goal and one for a behind, and Grand Final scores routinely run past 60, 80, 100. Margins spread out accordingly. A forty-point Grand Final is unremarkable, so bands above 40 are genuinely live and you need several of them.
NRL pays four for a try, two for the conversion or a penalty goal, one for a field goal. Full-time scores usually sit somewhere in the teens to the thirties, so margins bunch hard at the bottom — a huge share of deciders finish inside two converted tries. In an NRL sweep the space between 1 and 12 deserves half your bands, and anything above 30 should be a single catch-all per team.
Practically: the AFL decider is traditionally played at the MCG on the last Saturday in September (it has drifted into early October in some seasons, and 2020 and 2021 were played interstate), and the NRL decider is usually the following weekend in Sydney. Two sweeps, two weekends. Plenty of offices run both and let people be in one, the other, or both.
What happens if it's a draw
Both codes now settle the decider on the day. The AFL has played extra time in finals since 2016 — before that a drawn Grand Final was replayed the following week, which happened in 1877, 1948, 1977 and 2010. The NRL plays golden point in finals, with play continuing until someone scores. So a literal drawn Grand Final is close to off the table, and a "match drawn" band is a novelty ticket rather than a real chance.
What you do have to rule on is which margin counts:
- Final scoreboard (recommended). The number on the telly when it's all over, extra time included. Simplest, and it's what everyone assumes anyway.
- Full-time margin. Scores level at full time means the draw band wins, regardless of what extra time does. Fine, but you must say it out loud beforehand or you'll be relitigating it on Monday.
If you do include a draw band and nobody wants it, the usual conventions are that the organiser holds it, or it stays unclaimed and any winnings roll into next year's sweep.
Splitting the pot
Twelve people at $10 is a $120 pot. House rules vary; pick one and write it on the board before the draw:
- Winner takes all. The band containing the final margin takes the lot. Overwhelmingly the most common for small offices, and the only version nobody miscounts.
- 80 / 20. Winning band takes 80%, the nearer of the two neighbouring bands takes 20%. Softens the blow for whoever missed by three points.
- 70 / 20 / 10. Winning band, then the two bands either side, ranked by which is closer to the actual margin. Better for pots over about $200.
- Half-time and full-time. Two separate draws, half the pot each. Twice the interest, twice the admin — run them as two boards, not one.
Two rulings worth making in advance. If a band is unclaimed on a paper sweep, the cleanest convention is that the nearest claimed band takes it. And the organiser takes nothing — a sweep where every dollar in comes back out as prizes is a social flutter; one where someone skims is something else entirely.
Collecting entries without being a pest
The board is the easy bit. Here's the etiquette that actually keeps these things pleasant:
- Pick a round number. $5 or $10. Never $7. Nobody has change and you'll spend Friday afternoon breaking a fifty.
- One collector, one method, one deadline. Bank transfer with a reference, or a tin on a desk. Not both.
- Money before the draw. This is the single rule that saves you. Once people know they hold "Lions by 60+" they get remarkably slow to pay.
- Make it opt-in. Don't put someone in because they'd obviously want to be — then you're chasing $10 from a person who never agreed to anything.
- Post the board once. Pin it, print it, stick it on the fridge. Do not tag everyone three times.
- Check the ground rules. Plenty of workplaces — government departments and financial firms especially — have policies on gambling at work, even social sweeps, and nobody under 18 should be in a money sweep. If it's awkward, run it for a block of chocolate instead. The game is identical.
- Let the last $10 go. One quiet message, then wear it. Ten dollars is never worth the atmosphere.
Run it without the whiteboard
The Grand Final sweep generator does the fiddly part: type the two teams, take the default margin bands or edit them to match the grid above, paste everyone's names, and hit draw. The shuffle uses your browser's cryptographic randomness, so nobody can rig it — including us. You get a share link for the group and an organiser link that can re-draw before kick-off, and the board prints cleanly for the tea-room wall.
Run one free, no signup, no account, no card. It deliberately doesn't touch the money: collect the entries however your office always has. If it's the first Tuesday in November you're after instead, the Melbourne Cup sweep runs the classic 24-horse draw, and its rules page settles the scratchings argument.
FAQ
How many bands should a Grand Final sweep have?
One band per person, split evenly between the two teams — ten people means five bands each way. Keep the bands narrow at the bottom and wide at the top, because close margins are far more common than blowouts.
What happens if the Grand Final is a draw?
Both codes settle the decider on the day now — the AFL has played extra time in finals since 2016, and the NRL plays golden point — so a drawn result is close to impossible. Decide in advance whether you're using the final scoreboard including extra time (the usual choice) or the full-time margin.
Should AFL and NRL sweeps use the same margins?
No. AFL scores run high and margins spread out, so bands above 40 points are live. NRL margins bunch under about 12 points, so an NRL sweep needs most of its bands in the 1–12 range and only one catch-all band per team above 30.
How much should a Grand Final sweep cost to enter?
$5 or $10 is the common range — a round number, one collector, one method, and money in before the draw. Keep it not-for-profit: every dollar collected should go back out as prize money.
Does the sweep generator handle the money?
No, deliberately. It draws the board and shares it. Entries get collected however your office already does it.