So much expectation is put into this opening round that it almost seems like its worth double the premiership points. Players are rushed back into the line up and everyone wants to put on the best display possible.
That will be especially so for the clubs who finished the previous season in less than glorious fashion. This year, no two sides are better examples of that than the Brisbane Lions and West Coast.
The Lions had a horror season last year and much has been written about the club trading away its future. The microscope has been firmly set on coach, Michael Voss, and predictions in 2011 all spell doom and gloom.
On radio a few weeks ago Voss scoffed and laughed at such predictions and said, "We might as well not turn up then". To me this clearly showed the coach was frustrated with so much negative attention aimed both his way and at the club.
On Saturday night they have a home game at the Gabba against Fremantle, which presents the club with the perfect opportunity to shut down its critics for a while. A win would be the perfect tonic for both the Lions and Voss and I sense that the build up behind closed doors will be huge.
On the other side of the country, West Coast picked up their first ever wooden spoon in 2010 and are still hurting. Eagles coach John Worsfold is a legend of the club as both a premiership captain and coach, but comes out of contract at the end of the year. His young team needs to show some spirit and natural improvement if he is to continue to develop this squad in 2012 and beyond.
The Eagles have a similar opportunity to Brisbane. In the fact that they play at home in front of their adoring fans against North Melbourne on Sunday afternoon. For a team that found wins extremely hard to come by last season they have the perfect opportunity to get the season rolling with a win.
For either side their opening game appears to be "larger" than simply the first building block in a 24-round season. A loss for either will once again be surrounded by critical analysis.
I have personally experienced the frustration of a first-round thrashing. The Carlton-Richmond Thursday night blockbuster as the opening to a season has become a tradition in recent years, but the build-up when Ben Cousins arrived at Punt Road, in 2009, placed even more emphasis on this game.
An 83-point drubbing placed everyone at the club under unbelievable pressure and the team never recovered.
As much as all clubs would like to tell you it is only the first step in a marathon journey, bold statements can still be made as we witnessed when Collingwood belted the Western Bulldogs in the first round of last season.
The reality is that some clubs are still underdone, with players returning from off season operations with limited game time.
On the other hand, some teams have full squads who are ready to hit the ground running in the first few weeks of the season.
I have always thought that form sorts itself out after about seven rounds, once everyone gets into the groove of week to week footy.
There is one thing that never changes in our great game of AFL football and that is, rightly or wrongly, reputations will be made and lost over the four opening days of round one.
Up until now all teams have improved, done their best testing and spirits are high, but by Sunday night there will be eight coaches back in their bunkers trying to unravel exactly what went wrong.
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL
