ENSURING that teams fresh from a bye did not face a team that had played the previous week would restrict the rest of the fixture too much, according to the AFL. 

In round 14, each of the six teams coming off a bye was pitted against an opponent that was yet to have the week off.

The fixture raised eyebrows, particularly with North Melbourne drawn to play Adelaide in Adelaide after consecutive six-day breaks, while the Crows went into the game after a 12-day break. 

The Kangaroos refused to use the discrepancy as an excuse despite being outscored 4.10 (34) to 1.1 (7) in the final term after trailing by just six points at the last break.

In all, four of the teams playing after the bye won and two – Carlton to Greater Western Sydney and Gold Coast to Hawthorn – lost.

AFL spokesperson Patrick Keane said the League was aware the situation had become an issue for some clubs and although it was not done deliberately, it was impossible to fixture games according to whether teams were coming off a bye or not.

"The fixture production is an extremely complicated process and changing that part of the fixture operation to ensure it doesn't happen results in other things across the fixture that we [ideally] don't want to see, such as consecutive back-to-back travel or consecutive six-day breaks," Keane said.   

Keane said filling major timeslots on Thursdays and Fridays during the bye rounds also complicated the process.

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson said clubs just rolled with the punches when it came to fixtures but acknowledged it was tough coming off a six-day break to play an opponent who had close to two weeks between games.

"I think if they could avoid that sort of stuff it would be fairer, but by and large there is all sorts of things in the draw that are fair for some teams and unfair for others and over 22 rounds you just hope that it evens itself out a bit," Clarkson said.

In round 15, two games will feature teams that have had different lead-ins. One of those teams, Adelaide, has a 10-day break between matches before meeting Melbourne (which comes off the bye) on Sunday. 

In round 16, the Sydney Swans will only have a six-day break before heading to Simonds Stadium to play Geelong, which will have a 13-day break ahead of the game.

The AFL prefers to spread the bye across three weeks because it allows consistent weekly content and maintains momentum. 

It also ensures a team from each state is playing each week (which it considers to be particularly important in non-traditional markets).