For something almost nobody wanted, Round Zero has become a surprisingly stubborn part of the AFL calendar.

We tolerated it in a way when it was being sold to us all as “selling the game” to NSW and Queensland, but I’m not sure that can fly anymore, with the AFL effectively abandoning that theme next year and relenting to play a match in Melbourne.

This year, the league has added a fifth Round Zero game between Collingwood and St Kilda at the MCG.

So, suddenly, the round that was supposedly about strategically “boosting northern markets” has morphed into just another week of footy, without any basic structural fairness.

The idea behind Round Zero, at least in its justification, was to put the spotlight on the NSW and Queensland clubs.

With the NRL getting the jump on the AFL by playing its first two games in Las Vegas on Sunday, March 1, several days before Sydney hosts Carlton in a Thursday night blockbuster days later, the AFL needed something special about its first round.

The result has confused a lot of fans, with round one becoming Round Zero and creating an uneven start to the season, with the half the teams starting the season with a bye when they want it the least.

Bringing Victorian clubs, and their enormous followings, to the traditionally non-AFL States had merit, even if fans disliked the concept. Facing fierce criticism, the AFL has gone back to the well and realised leaving the biggest stadium in the game on the bench — the MCG — would not continue to fly, but the Pies taking on the Saints will do little to grow the game in the northern States.

Collingwood reportedly did not want to travel interstate for Round Zero (cue every non-Melbourne team supporter to roll their eyes in complete unison). Travel is a part of life for every non-Victorian club, and they don’t get to choose, unfortunately.

But instead of telling Collingwood, “Sorry, but Round Zero is for northern expansion clubs and we all have to do our bit to grow the game,” the AFL catered to their demands and essentially said, “Alright then, you’re the boss, you can stay home. We’ll make a new game for you.”

But that decision doesn’t just undermine the purpose of the round; it worsens the fixture imbalance of a fixture we already know is unfair.

The fixture will never be equal, and we can all live with that to an extent: too many teams to play everyone twice, not enough to play everyone once. Melbourne teams don’t travel as much but do have to share a home ground.

Big teams get more Friday nights and marquee matches because they bring in more money, and the rivalries dictate at least one of a team’s double-up matches.

We don’t love it, but we understand this. But what we don’t need is additional artificial and totally unnecessary unevenness baked into the very start of the season.

Last year, Port Adelaide played Collingwood in what was Port’s first game of the season—but Collingwood’s second. The difference was obvious. Collingwood looked sharp after a Round Zero embarrassment, and Port looked like a team blowing out the cobwebs. All teams face sluggish starts, of course, but the point is that both teams should meet on equal footing. Round Zero destroys that.

In an era of shortened preseasons, early matches matter more than ever, and playing into form as fast as possible is key. It’s hard to play into form, though, if you’re sitting in a bye round while half the competition is playing.

A first-round bye is essentially just elongating your pre-season rather than having an in-season rest. So, half the league isn’t even getting the benefits of a week off — just getting the headache and hangover of it.

This chaos could perhaps be justified if Round Zero fulfilled its stated purpose. But with Collingwood and St Kilda thrown into the mix, Round Zero now looks less like a strategic initiative and more like a con job.