It is a playoff system of the top 8 finishers in a competition to determine which two teams will play in the grand final.
The major advantages of the system are the number of different combinations of teams which could make the final game and that no matches are repeated in the first three weeks.
In 2008, the first week of the NRL finals saw the then reigning grand finalists the Melbourne Storm lose to the 8th-placed New Zealand Warriors.
This scenario was exceeded in 2009 when the Parramatta Eels, who had finished 8th defeated St George Illawarra Dragons.
This gave them the dubious distinction of being the first minor premiers to be eliminated after two consecutive losses since the inception of the McIntyre system.
The newly formed ARL Commission accepted a recommendation to scrap the system as of 2012 on 22 February 2012.
This may ensure no repetition of games in the second week, but it means higher-ranked teams end up with more difficult opponents simply for the sake of more interesting scheduling.
In 2011, the 6th-placed New Zealand Warriors were beaten convincingly by the Brisbane Broncos (ranked 3rd) in its qualifying final by the score of 40–10.
Following that match, then-Warriors coach Ivan Cleary was quoted as saying "the way we played tonight, we don't deserve to be in the finals".
That loss saw them at risk of being eliminated initially, but were granted a reprieve after the two lower-ranking teams, North Queensland and Newcastle, also lost their finals.
A sudden reverse in form would see them advance to the grand final, thus becoming the third team (after the St. George Illawarra Dragons in 1999 and the Sydney Roosters the season previous), to advance to the grand final after finishing sixth at the end of the season.
Ultimately, the Warriors would lose to the second-placed Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles who had a much easier run to the decider.