The AFL have minimised the instances of the competition's strongest sides facing the weaker ones in the 2012 premiership fixture in a bid to avoid the high number of blowouts that occurred this year.
No less than 10 matches were decided by over 100 points in 2011 and that alarming figure threatens to be 'bettered' next year with the Greater Western Sydney Giants joining the competition.
But chief operating officer Gillon McLachlan confirmed the league had tried to ensure 2011 finalists had few encounters with GWS and Gold Coast in particular to avoid the prevalence of lopsided contests.
"I think there is an acknowledgement that those teams who have got very young lists and are new in the competition are going to take a while before they're really up and going strongly," McLachlan said at AFL House on Friday.
"We've tried to, rather than protect them, more make sure the top eight teams are not getting any unfair sort of advantage vis-a-vis each other for 2012."
The only top-eight team the Suns play twice next year is St Kilda while the Giants will match-up against local rivals Sydney on two occasions.
The first of those derbies will kick off the season in a stand-alone match on Saturday night March 24 at ANZ Stadium.
The remainder of the opening round will resume five days later on the following Thursday when Richmond and Carlton lock horns at the MCG in what is becoming a traditional fixture between the two big Victorian clubs.
A rematch of the epic preliminary final between Hawthorn and Collingwood will take place 24 hours later at the same venue.
Other highlights of the 2012 fixture include:
* The Round 4 clash between St Kilda and Fremantle at Etihad Stadium which will see Dockers coach Ross Lyon face off against his old club.
* The Grand Final rematch between Geelong and Collingwood in Round 8 at the MCG with a follow-up clash scheduled just eight weeks later in Round 16.
* The ANZAC Day clash between Collingwood and Essendon which falls on a Wednesday in Round 5 at the MCG.
* GWS coach Kevin Sheedy taking on Essendon in Round 9 at Skoda Stadium.
* The big Victorian rivalries Carlton-Collingwood, Carlton-Essendon, Carlton-Richmond, Collingwood-Essendon, Collingwood-Geelong, Collingwood-Hawthorn, Essendon-Richmond and Geelong-Hawthorn all featuring twice.
* The Western Derbies between West Coast and Fremantle in Round 9 and Round 19.
* The Showdowns between Adelaide and Port Adelaide in Round 5 and Round 15.
* The Q Clashes between Brisbane and Gold Coast in Round 4 and Round 17.
* The second Sydney derby between the Swans and Giants in Round 14 at ANZ Stadium.
* The debut of three new venues: Blundstone Arena (formerly Bellerive Oval), Blacktown International Sportspark and Skoda Stadium.
The 2012 premiership season will comprise 198 matches – 11 more than 2011 and an extra 22 on the 2010 figure – over 23 rounds.
Twenty of those rounds will include nine matches while the other three, Rounds 11, 12 and 13, will each feature six to accommodate a bye for each of the 18 teams.
The Grand Final returns to the traditional month of September and will take place on Saturday the 29th.