\n Analysis\n <\/p>\n
\n Which teams ended up with the hardest and easiest draws in 2025?\n <\/p>\n
Bailey Smith and Shaun Mannagh celebrate a goal during Geelong’s clash against Richmond in round 24, 2025. Picture: Getty Images<\/p>\n
GEELONG and Fremantle capitalised on easier-than-expected fixtures this season, while Collingwood had a tougher run than anticipated.<\/p>\n
After making a preliminary final last year, the Cats were set for a hard run of games in 2025, but instead ended up with the equal fifth-easiest draw, based on every club’s double-ups.<\/p>\n
Geelong, which will host Brisbane in a qualifying final after finishing second, met only two of this year’s finalists twice, with double-up matches against Brisbane and Greater Western Sydney, losing all four.<\/p>\n
The remainder of the Cats’ double-ups came against St Kilda (who finished 12th), Port Adelaide (13th), Essendon (15th) and Richmond (17th).<\/p>\n
Of the six clubs who had the easiest fixtures this year, only one other team \u2013 Carlton \u2013 played finals in 2024.<\/p>\n
The Blues failed to capitalise on the softest run in 2025 as they finished 11th.<\/p>\n
Patrick Cripps looks dejected after Carlton’s loss to Brisbane in round 18, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos<\/p>\n
Like Geelong, they only played two finalists twice \u2013 Collingwood and Hawthorn \u2013 with their double-ups coming against Port, the Bombers, North Melbourne (16th) and West Coast (18th).<\/p>\n
The Dockers, who finished sixth, had a strong record against fellow finals sides this year, but they played just one \u2013 the Magpies \u2013 twice.<\/p>\n
At the other end of the scale, the Lions had a brutal run of fixtures on the back of their premiership success.<\/p>\n
Chris Fagan’s side ended up playing four finalists twice, and its other two double-ups came against the Western Bulldogs (ninth) and Sydney (10th).<\/p>\n
Brisbane players celebrate a win over Hawthorn in round 24, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos<\/p>\n
Remarkably, it wasn’t the Lions who ended up with the hardest fixture.<\/p>\n
That belonged to last year’s preliminary finalist Port Adelaide, which also had four double-ups against 2025 contenders, including meeting minor premier Adelaide twice.<\/p>\n
After missing finals last year, the Pies were unlucky to end up with the third-hardest fixture, having also played four eventual finalists twice. \u00a0<\/p>\n
West Coast’s hopes of faring better this year weren’t helped by a hard run of games as the Eagles faced three 2025 finalists twice, more than Geelong, Greater Western Sydney and Carlton, who all featured in September last year. \u00a0<\/p>\n
* The expected degree of difficulty was calculated by adding the 2024 finishing positions of the teams a club plays twice. A low total score means a club has a tougher fixture; a high total score means an easier fixture.<\/p>\n
* The actual degree of difficulty was calculated by adding the 2025 ladder positions of the teams a club played twice. A low total score means a club has a tougher fixture; a high total score means an easier fixture.<\/p>\n
\u00a0
\nExpected degree of difficulty
\nActual degree of difficulty
\nDifference<\/p>\n
West Coast
\n70
\n54
\nHarder by 16<\/p>\n
Collingwood
\n54
\n43
\nHarder by 11<\/p>\n
Gold Coast
\n64
\n55
\nHarder by 9<\/p>\n
Melbourne
\n73
\n65
\nHarder by 8<\/p>\n
Port Adelaide
\n45
\n38
\nHarder by 7<\/p>\n
St Kilda
\n58
\n53
\nHarder by 5<\/p>\n
Hawthorn
\n50
\n46
\nHarder by 4<\/p>\n
Richmond
\n73
\n70
\nHarder by 3<\/p>\n
North Melbourne
\n64
\n62
\nHarder by 2<\/p>\n
Brisbane
\n41
\n40
\nHarder by 1<\/p>\n
Western Bulldogs
\n56
\n57
\nEasier by 1<\/p>\n
Adelaide
\n64
\n66
\nEasier by 2<\/p>\n
Greater Western Sydney
\n54
\n58
\nEasier by 4<\/p>\n
Essendon
\n52
\n56
\nEasier by 4<\/p>\n
Sydney
\n47
\n58
\nEasier by 11<\/p>\n
Carlton
\n62
\n74
\nEasier by 12<\/p>\n
Geelong
\n50
\n65
\nEasier by 15<\/p>\n
Fremantle
\n49
\n66
\nEasier by 17<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Analysis Which teams ended up with the hardest and easiest draws in 2025? Bailey Smith and Shaun Mannagh…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":109008,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85,83],"class_list":["post-109007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports","tag-text"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109007\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}