A weekly bye was introduced to account for the loss of Deakin University, which has gone into recess for for 12 months, but with only 18 rounds in the season, four teams have missed out on an extra bye.

Reigning premier Nirranda, finalist Kolora-Noorat, Allansford and East Warrnambool are all set to play 17 games, while the remaining seven teams will play 16.

Blues coach Shane Threlfall was not pleased to miss out on the extra bye – which comes with a guaranteed four points – but said an 11 competition would always have an uneven spread.

“In an ideal world, it’d be nice to have an even draw, but the number of teams we’ve got makes that difficult,” he said.

“We’re already starting four points behind, but it’s more so the fact that the sides that have two byes have an extra week to rest and recuperate and get their playing lists ready.”

The league has opted to keep its mid-season bye in July, on top of the AFL Victoria community championships break in mid-May, meaning most teams will have four weekends off during the home-and-away season.

Kolora-Noorat president Matt Clarke said the bye discrepancy could make a difference for sides battling to crack into the top five.

“I would certainly hope that however that is handled doesn’t impact on a fifth or sixth-placed team making finals,” he said.

“As far as the draw goes as a whole, I think we have quite a good draw that I’m happy with. But I would’ve assumed there would’ve been a split round.”

Warrnambool and District league president Barry Crimmin said the bye distribution was “just the way it’s fallen” as the league tried to factor in as many club requests as possible when making the fixture.