Who would have thought that when the 2020 fixture was released that this was how the year would have ended up?
You would have been laughed across the Murray River if you were to suggest to the fervent footballing public of Victoria that many of them would not see a single game live this season.
A straight jacket would have been tailored to your measurements should you have suggested that the Grand Final would be played under lights at the Gabba in October.
However, due to arrival of an unforeseen and, as of yet, untameable virus, the game, like the rest of the world, was forced to make compromises.
With these changes came a fresh batch of terms to enter the footy lexicon, as well as the array of previously unthought of headlines that appeared on mastheads everywhere.
So despite a season that provided challenges for everyone involved in the game, it has also supplied many moments (both good and bad) that will live long in our memories.
Here are the top 10 headlines from a season unlike any before it.
5. The bubble breaches
In a season where everything was on the line in regard to profits, safety and the ability to get the game back up and running, players were placed under the strictest protocols ever known.
There was to be no socializing with anyone outside of your locker or lounge rooms, invasive nasal tests would need to be conducted multiple times a week and all of this done on a discounted wage. These practices also tightened when they were asked to take up residence inside their Queensland hubs.
However, with the average age of an AFL footballer being just a tick over 24, we were going to see these bubbles burst inevitably.
Whether it be a follicly challenged Magpie found half naked on the side of the road, his coach breaking the bubble, but not his opponents serve in Perth, a Sydney Cygnet smuggling his then partner across a pair of fences or two Tigers losing the fight and their food after some libation and nude action, the breaches ranged from idiotic to inexcusable.
Chicken or lamb ๐ค#KebabGate pic.twitter.com/nBaSkwoAx7
— 7AFL (@7AFL) September 4, 2020
With the prevailing sentiment that the 2021 season is likely to be conducted closer to normality, fans and players alike will be overjoyed that terms such as breach, bubble, hub and โkebabgate' can be removed from their shared vernacular.