North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson has declared that the AFL is unequal as the league works on the competitive balance of the competition.
In recent weeks, non-Victorian clubs have asked for extra consideration given they are travelling every second week around Australia to play football.
Richmond-turned-Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick has shared the struggles an "interstate" team has, quickly understanding the challenges clubs have outside the footy nucleus that is Melbourne.
"I've played in Victoria, I've played intestate and I've now coached here. We're up against it, there's no question about it," Hardwick said.
"Every advantage we try to get, we fight hand over fist with the AFL to try and get one.
"I'm 10 games in and I'm finding it challenging."
When probed about the competitive balance, Clarkson was sympathetic to the league, labelling equalising matters as a "real delicate balancing act" given the difficulty in pleasing all 18 clubs and their fans.
"It is a difficult one," Clarkson said on Thursday.
"The way that our game is structured is that it's an uneven draw. There's advantages for some clubs in terms of crowds, capacity of stadiums, TV games... nothing is actually equal in the competition despite this socialistic model that tries to have it as equal as possible.
"What will be one club's advantage will be another club's significant disadvantage and the competitive balance of that is the AFL sitting there trying to marry up where one club might get a significant advantage on one thing.
"It's a real delicate balancing act for the AFL and I think they're doing it as best as they possibly can."
Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir says the AFL has been neglecting "a heartland of football" in Western Australia while non-Victorian clubs have hit back at the thought that the extra "12 business class seats" make up for the travel obstacle.
NewsCorp whipped up a ranking of clubs who had to travel most throughout the 2024 season, and unsurprisingly, Western Australia, Queensland and New South Wales sides collected the most frequent flyer points, with the Giants boarding a plane 14 times.
The AFL reported that it would be heading a competitive balance review late in 2023, which is to look at any injustices within the competition.
From the National Draft, Free Agency, Academies and travel, the league is attempting to get its act together.
