It's such a disingenuous and simplistic thing to say the fixture doesn't matter and you should just be good enough to beat everyone. It doesn't work that way and you need a lot of luck or things to go your way to win a premiership.
Consider last season where it was so tight to get into finals and give us an extra game against Richmond or North, we could have finished with a home final and a bunch of our injured players back to attack finals. Who knows how far we could have gone. Or you look at Hawthorn who snuck into finals ahead of us with a very soft draw that included 2 games against Richmond, North and Adelaide which they all won. Remove one of those double ups for a tougher opponent and maybe we make it in instead of them.
Similarly, in 2012 Sydney had the bonus of playing two Sydney derby games vs the new kids on the block GWS (GWS won 2 games for the season and finished with a percentage of 46). They belted the hell out of them with two huge percentage boosting wins while the other sides around them on the ladder only got to play them once. As a result, Sydney managed to sneak into 3rd place on the ladder by percentage, only 1 game ahead of 6th place. That extra game vs the Giants effectively earned them the double chance and a softer ride into the GF which they won. A teams draw is very important.
A softer draw allows sides to get ahead of their fixtures, rest players and get them fresh for finals. Playing some easier sides and being able to give Fyfe or Sonny a rest would be incredibly advantageous, especially if it includes resting battered players from travel. It helps you prepare a side for important games and finals, giving you the best chance to go far.
This fixture is a rough one for us with 2 games versus a lot of the top sides from last season. We will have to be that much better than everyone else to give ourselves a good shot.
