YES, it does seem rather odd that governments have come and gone and dynasties risen and fallen in the time between Geelong and Hawthorn's last official AFL clash and their next scheduled meeting.

Much has changed since the Cats and Hawks played in Launceston in round four last year. And a whole lot more water could go under the bridge before their much-anticipated clash in round 17 this season.

By then, Hawthorn will have played Melbourne twice in 2008 and still have had a couple more months to dwell on it.

But, seriously, the emerging cries of "ludicrous" and "can't be allowed to happen again" are a bit rich.

Particularly when they're coming from people who no doubt whinged long and loud about the several anomalies of the AFL fixture this relatively insignificant quirk has helped fix.

The elimination of the requirement that each team plays each other by the end of round 15 might not result in as cosmetically a pleasing fixture, but it has sure helped improve its fairness.

Like with travel. Previously, there's been often more than half-a-dozen occasions per season when a team was forced to travel to Perth to play West Coast or Fremantle, then back up with another road trip the following week. Now there's none.

There's the issue of seedings. The removal of a significant impediment to an equitable draw has allowed the computer boffins designing the 22-round roster to create a far more balanced spread of games against teams which finished both in and outside the previous season's top eight.

And you want more blockbusters? Well, now you can have them. Collingwood and Melbourne's annual Queen's Birthday clash has previously, having fallen in the middle of the season, been their only meeting of each year.

Likewise, the Magpies and Sydney. There's no reason now either match-up can't happen twice in a season.

Who knows how many twists and turns a team's season can take in however short a space of time between one meeting and the next, anyway.

Just ask the teams which played Geelong early last season, during which time the Cats lost three times in the first five rounds.That was as good as a different team to the juggernaut which steamrolled its way through the next 17 and a finals campaign.

And need we say once more that given 16 teams and 22 rounds, the AFL draw can never be completely equitable anyway.

All the "play every team before you start again" guideline has done is impose even more restrictions upon a schedule that needs as few of them as possible.

Surely that's worth Geelong and Hawthorn fans having to cool their heels just a little longer before they match wits once again, isn't it?