THE AFL has admitted it erred in exposing easybeats Greater Western Sydney and the Gold Coast in its dismal Easter Sunday double feature, which resulted in thrashings of 129 and 92 points respectively.

League executive Gillon McLachlan said last night it had not occurred to his fixtures team that the Giants and the Suns had been scheduled in the only two games on Sunday - an anomaly that will be repeated in round 12 when the only two games on Saturday, June 16, feature the AFL's fledgling sides.

Outgunned... GWS received a flogging at the hands - and feet - of North Melbourne. On the same day, Gold Coast received a similar hiding, courtesy of St Kilda. Credit:Getty Images

''It was a soft day's football,'' said McLachlan, ''and we'll take it on the chin. The fixture is so difficult and there are so many elements we need to take into account and, to be honest, that situation had not even occurred to us.

''With hindsight, could we have done it differently? Maybe. With hindsight, were they great games? No. Would we rather they were more competitive? Yes. We would rather every game was settled by a few points.''