Draw flaws take their toll

Once upon a time, the completion of this weekend's upcoming Round 15 matches marked the time when all clubs had played each other once, meaning it was the only time of the season when you could get a true indication as to each club's progress.

Instead, as we approach Round 15 this season - in the first year of the AFL's new floating fixture - the true inequality of this year's draw becomes apparent.

And the fact that all teams have not played each other once in the first 15 rounds - with some sides already having met twice and others yet to play at all - has been made worse by the fact we are enduring one of the most lopsided seasons ever in terms of the gap between the bottom and top teams.

After 14 rounds the top three teams in Geelong, the Western Bulldogs and Hawthorn have still only lost four games between them - the best ever performance by the top three teams at this stage of the season - while the bottom three teams in Fremantle, West Coast and Melbourne have won a total of just six games between them.

So here are just some of the inequalities and bizarre quirks to have emerged from the AFL's controversial new draw so far.

The most obvious is the fact that in a season where we have three such standout teams the only head-to-head battle between those teams scheduled so far was between the Hawks and Bulldogs in Round 10 and that match was played in Tasmania.

That means Victorian football fans after nearly a decade of dominance by non-Victorian clubs are still yet to see any of the top three teams face off in Victoria and won't until Round 16 when the Cats host the Bulldogs at Geelong followed a week later by the Round 17 MCG blockbuster between Hawthorn and Geelong.

Now take a look at some of the vastly contrasting fixtures clubs have had to endure in the period where formerly every club was guaranteed a fair draw by playing each other once, before the seven return matches kicked in.

By the end of this weekend's Round 15 matches, Melbourne will have played the top three teams a total of five times while Carlton will have played the Hawks, the Cats and Bulldogs a total of just once - with its once-only meetings against the Bulldogs and Hawthorn not arriving until rounds 17 and 22 respectively.

So in light of that huge inequity, is it any wonder Carlton is sitting some five wins and seven places better off than the Demons on the ladder and their respective first-year coaches in Brett Ratten (his first full year after being caretaker late last season) and Dean Bailey have endured such contrasting debut seasons to date?

Ratten has been praised quite rightly so far as the Blues enjoy their best season since 2001 while Bailey has endured one of the most difficult debut seasons imaginable. Would their positions be reversed if their fixture lists throughout the first 15 rounds had also been reversed?

With 16 teams and just 22 rounds, the AFL is never going to be able to come up with the ultimate fair draw of all teams playing each other twice - once home and once away - as is the case in European soccer leagues