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Collingwood faces a titanic task to make it back to the Grand Final next year, according to Champion Data's difficult rating of the 2019 fixture.
The AFL's official number cruncher believes the Magpies have the toughest draw of all teams, ahead of Hawthorn, North Melbourne, West Coast and Melbourne.
The Magpies had the easiest draw in 2018.
2017 minor premier Adelaide, which slid to 12th this past season, could be set for a major bounce back.
Only St Kilda was considered to have a simpler draw than the Crows.
Brisbane, Gold Coast and the Western Bulldogs have the next-easiest draws on the Champion Data formula.
As shown below, the teams were ranked in four categories with the the top-four teams highlighted in red, teams in fifth to eighth in pink, ninth to 14th in white, and 15th to 18th in green.
The colours are based on points differential from last season and were then averaged according to their opponents in the 2019 fixture.
Draw difficulty for 2019. Rank is hardest to easiest. pic.twitter.com/7TJPHVf2Va
— Champion Data AFL (@championdata) November 1, 2018
Colours are for 2018 points differential.
— Champion Data AFL (@championdata) November 1, 2018
Red = Top-4
Pink = Top-8
Green = Bottom-4
Fixture breakdown
Plays twice | Games against top four | Games against bottom four | Six-day breaks | Five-day breaks | Interstate 'away' trips | |
| Adelaide | Cats, Suns, Saints Power, Eagles | 5 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 10 |
| Brisbane | Hawks, Roos, Power, Dogs, Suns | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 10 |
| Carlton | Tigers, Swans, Dogs, Saints, Suns | 5 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 6 |
| Collingwood | Tigers, Dees, Eagles, Dons, Dogs | 6 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 5 |
| Essendon | Pies, Giants, Roos, Swans, Freo | 5 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 6 |
| Fremantle | Eagles, Power, Dons, Dogs, Saints | 5 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 10 |
| Geelong | Hawks, Roos, Swans, Crows, Dogs | 4 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| Gold Coast | Giants, Crows, Lions, Saints, Blues | 4 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| GWS | Dons, Suns, Hawks, Tigers, Swans | 5 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 10 |
| Hawthorn | Eagles, Cats, Giants, Roos, Lions | 5 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 5 |
| Melbourne | Tigers, Eagles, Pies, Swans, Saints | 6 | 5 | 6 | 1 (four days) | 5 |
| North Melbourne | Cats, Hawks, Power, Dons, Lions | 4 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 5 |
| Port Adelaide | Tigers, Roos, Crows, Lions, Freo | 5 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 11* |
| Richmond | Dees, Pies, Giants, Power, Blues | 5 | 5 | 6 | 1 (four days) | 5 |
| St Kilda | Dees, Crows, Freo, Suns, Blues | 5 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 6* |
| Sydney | Blues, Dons, Cats, Giants, Dees | 5 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 10 |
| West Coast | Dees, Pies, Hawks, Crows, Freo | 5 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 10 |
| Western Bulldogs | Pies, Cats, Freo, Lions, Blues | 5 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
