THE FIXTURE for the rest of the season will do embattled Collingwood no favours, with Nathan Buckley's team facing the second hardest draw for the last 16 rounds.

In a revised analysis of the fixture after seven rounds, the Magpies emerge as the big loser alongside top-four challengers North Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs.

Plenty will be learned about the Kangaroos and Bulldogs' premiership credentials as they face the hardest and third-hardest draws, respectively, for the rest of the season.

Collingwood is nestled in between with the second-hardest draw.

North Melbourne will have a fight on its hands to stay on top of the ladder with nine matches against top-eight opponents. It also faces reigning premier Hawthorn twice.

The Hawks and last year's Grand Final opponent West Coast, as well as finals aspirant Greater Western Sydney, are the big winners in a fixture that could go a long way to shaping a wide-open premiership race.

The draw difficulty rankings, provided by Champion Data, are based on each team's points for and against after seven rounds.



For example, Geelong is considered the toughest team to face with an average points differential of +46.8 over seven games.



At the other end of the spectrum, Essendon is considered the easiest opponent with an average points differential of -43.4.



The final difficulty rating of a team's draw is the average points differential of its remaining opponents.



So if a team played the Cats and Bombers back-to-back, the difficulty rating of that fortnight would be considered 1.7 (+46.8 + -43.4 /2).



Back-to-back matches against form teams Geelong and the Sydney Swans, whose average points differential is 39.7, would have a much higher difficulty ranking of 43.25 (46.8 + 39.7 /2).



The revised rankings paint a much different picture after seven rounds because of the dramatic falls of Fremantle and Richmond, and the Giants' drive up the ladder.



Collingwood, fresh off a loss to last year's wooden spooner Carlton, faces seven of the top-eight teams in the run home, including the Western Bulldogs twice.



The Magpies' toughest run will come between rounds 16 and 19 when they face GWS, Adelaide, North Melbourne and West Coast. They finish their season against Hawthorn.



The Eagles, by comparison, face only five top eight times in the last 16 rounds, but must play Adelaide twice in that time as they seek a return to the Grand Final stage.



Three of their seven remaining road trips are against top eight teams.



Geelong was seen as the big winner when the 2016 fixture was released last year, and not much has changed for Chris Scott's men, who have enjoyed the fifth easiest draw so far.



It will only get slightly more difficult from here as the fancied Cats continue their push for the premiership with the 11th hardest draw.

How difficult has your club's draw been? How hard does it get?