THE 2013 Toyota AFL premiership season has once again thrown up all sorts of juicy morsels to anticipate through the long, hot months ahead.

Here are a few to put in the diary.

1. Opening round
Yes, it has morphed into a fortnight long extravaganza, but it contains plenty of intriguing match-ups, including a Freo-West Coast derby and the final game of the Easter long weekend, Hawks-Cats on the Monday will likely be the best of the lot. All eyes will be on new full-back Brian Lake, brought to the Hawks from the Bulldogs pretty much for matches like this.

2. Lazy Sundays at the 'G
Sundays at the MCG can sometimes be footy's wasteland, but not so in 2013. Collingwood hosts Mick Malthouse's Carlton there in round two and then Hawthorn the following Sunday in back-to-back blockbusters. Then, in round 20, the Pies play their return match against Essendon in the Sunday twilight timeslot. The early call here is that it will be the most watched game ever on Foxtel.

3. BJ comes home
OK. In this era of shared home grounds it won't be unusual territory for new Bomber Brendon Goddard as he plays against his former club, St Kilda, for the first time. But it will be a home game for the Saints and as we saw when Ross Lyon coached against his former club for the first time, Saints fans are good haters. Cue the invective.

4. Footy goes global.
Well, perhaps not truly global, but it does cross the Tasman when St Kilda hosts the Sydney Swans at Wellington Stadium on Anzac Day. The AFL expects a sell-out as Nuck Riewoldt and Edem Goodes strut their stuff. AFL.com.au reporters are already jockeying for a seat on the plane to that one.

5. The Grand Final re-match
The first clash between the Swans and the Hawks takes place on a Saturday night at the MCG in round seven. It marks the end of the Hawthorn's brutal opening to the season and by this time they will have already played each of last year's finalists. If they're 4-3 or better by this time, they'll be most pleased.

6. See the light
Simonds Stadium's transformation from sleepy country footy ground to mega-modern football facility will be just about complete when the Cats play Gold Coast in round 10. It will be the first match there under lights and will mark the opening of the new Players Stand, which will take the capacity to 33,500. It will also be the first time Gary Ablett visits the ground as an opposition player. He missed the Suns' 2011 visit because of injury. Chances are the ground still remain a fortress for the Cats when they play with yellow balls.

7. Back in business
Players and coaches love rounds 11 to 13 because they get to take a much-needed break, while for Dreamteamers, it causes all sorts of issues. But footy cranks up again in round 14 with a big Thursday night clash in Perth between West Coast and Essendon, followed the next night by the Swans and Carlton at the SCG.

8. Tiger graveyard
In just two years, Cazaly Stadium has become the ground where Richmond's finals hopes have died. Fair to say if the Tigers lose yet again to Gold Coast in their now traditional game in far north Queensland, Damien Hardwick might not be coach of the Tigers for much longer.

9. Friday night fun
Collingwood appears seven times on Friday night, while Hawthorn, Essendon and Carlton appear five times each. The AFL now makes no apologies for the fact that clubs have to earn games in the biggest timeslot of the week and as a result there are five clubs - Greater Western Sydney, Gold Coast, the Western Bulldogs, Melbourne and Port Adelaide - who do not feature at all.

10. Goodbye and good riddance
AAMI Stadium will host its final home and away game ever in round 23 when Port Adelaide plays Carlton. Barring any finals games, AFL football will then make the welcome and long overdue move to the Adelaide Oval, where both the Crows and Power will play from 2014.

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL