Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett today said he accepted the AFL's decision to send the Hawks to Perth for the first round of the NAB Cup - but would have much preferred to be playing in Tasmania.

Hawthorn drew the short straw today when the NAB Cup draw was announced, having to travel to Perth for matches against West Coast and Fremantle on February 13. Melbourne is the only other Victorian team that will have to fly interstate for their opening games - to Adelaide - while the other eight Victorian clubs will play in Melbourne.

(Brisbane, however, will have to travel to Victoria to make up one of the new, three-team conferences and be the ninth team playing in Melbourne.)

Although Kennett said he did not want to appear to be whingeing about the Hawks' long-haul trip to Perth, he would have been happier if the Hawks had been sent to 'neglected' Tasmania to open their NAB Cup campaign.

"I think it would have been appropriate if three Victorian teams were sent down to Tasmania to put on a show for the Tasmanian fans," said Kennett.

The former Premier suggested that Tasmania had long been forgotten when the AFL drew up its schedule for pre-season matches. "For a long time Tasmanian football fans have been treated like second-class citizens and it's about time they were recognised and saluted," he said.

While acknowledging that a third team would have to play against the two Perth clubs, Kennett thought Hawthorn would be better suited to growing the game in Tasmania, saying it would have been much cheaper to send three Victorian clubs down to Launceston's Aurora Stadium than sending one to Perth.

"The AFL has missed an opportunity to pay respect to the great footballing fans of Tasmania, but that's the AFL's decision and it's part of the system," Kennett said.

The revised pre-season competition will see all 18 teams, including Greater Western Sydney, take part in the first round of a lightning competition that stretches over the middle two weekends in February.

Teams will be placed into six groups of three, where they will then play two shortened games against each other, over a period of three hours.

Each game will comprise two 20-minute halves with the winner of each six groups advancing to the quarter-finals, along with the two other best-performed teams.

"Supporters will see their team play twice and, all up, there will be three matches played during a three-hour period," said the AFL's chief operating officer Gillon McLachlan.

Among the highlights of the 2011 first-round draw are:

* North Melbourne and Geelong being drawn together, meaning the AFL wasted no time in pitting new Cats coach Chris Scott against his twin brother Brad.

* A 'Super Saturday' grouping of Richmond, Carlton and Collingwood will headline the competition.

* Essendon has been chosen in the same group as Brisbane, meaning rookie Bombers' coach James Hird will be up against Brisbane's Michael Voss, his fellow-Brownlow Medallist in 1996 and (like Hird) an untried coach when appointed to the Lions in late 2008.

* Team Greater Western Sydney will make its first appearance in the AFL, ahead of its first season proper in 2012. It will be up against against Sydney and the Gold Coast, with the AFL crossing its fingers that GWS's boom rugby league signing Israel Folau will play against GC's Karmichael Hunt in their opening match.

McLachlan said the decision to revamp the NAB Cup was made after speaking extensively with each club after last year's pre-season competition.

"We had received a lot of feedback from clubs that three full-scale pre-season matches was the right number for them in terms of their preparation for the premiership season.

The revised system gives each club the opportunity to determine how much game time each player receives on one particular day.

"This format allows for three matches, along with a first week where players can play one match for 40 minutes, with a light run, or play both games for 80 minutes of football."

Of Greater Western Sydney's debut, McLachlan said:  "Team GWS is beginning the process now of identifying young talent and the NAB Cup will provide an initial opportunity for Kevin Sheedy and his coaching staff to assess what they need to do over the next 12 months.''

NAB CUP FIXTURE 2011 -
ROUND ONE POOLS AND THEIR LOCATIONS

- Adelaide, Port Adelaide and Melbourne at AAMI Stadium, February 11 (Friday night)

- Collingwood, Carlton and Richmond at Etihad Stadium, February 12 (Saturday night)

- West Coast, Fremantle and Hawthorn at Patersons Stadium (Subiaco Oval), February 13 (Sunday afternoon)

- Essendon, Brisbane and St Kilda at Etihad Stadium, February 18 (Friday night)

- Greater Western Sydney, Sydney Swans and Gold Coast at Blacktown Olympic Park, February 19 (Saturday night)

- Geelong, North Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs at Skilled Stadium, February 20 (Sunday afternoon)