Dees dip out with new draw

MELBOURNE looms as the biggest loser in the AFL’s newlook 17-round season.

The Demons hoped to cash in on their 17th placing last year given they had only one double-up encounter against a top-eight team — Collingwood. They were drawn to play Adelaide, Gold Coast, St Kilda and Fremantle twice.

Premier Richmond’s draw looks simpler now that the Tigers dodge three double-up clashes against premiership contenders.

The AFL’s decision to cut matches means the 6-6-6 aspect of the fixture, which hands struggling teams easier draws, is stripped from the 17game season.

Under that format top-six teams played as many as three double-up games the next season against fellow top-six contenders and bottom-six teams played more against the previous year’s bottom-six clubs.

The AFL’s new fixture could take weeks to formulate and could even be drip-fed out in three or four-week blocks.

It will likely see interstate clubs travelling to Melbourne and playing two or three games in a 10 or 12-day period.

AFL “war cabinet” member Eddie McGuire’s example cited several times this week is that the Magpies and St Kilda might travel to Perth to stay for a week.

They would take on each other, West Coast and Fremantle in a 10-day period, which would also ensure less contamination between players across that period.

Some clubs will also play only eight home games and others nine home games, while clubs are desperate for the season to be delayed long enough for fans to return to games.

Under Champion Data’s formula West Coast officially had the hardest fixture under the 22-game format and Fremantle the easiest. West Coast played 2019 top-four sides Geelong, Collingwood and Richmond twice this year as well as Port and Freo twice.