Meanwhile, Kangaroos great Wayne Carey has taken aim at the AFL Players Association, declaring it has gone too far with the amount of time players have off in the post-season and also with the two byes introduced this season.

Brayshaw said the AFL should be prepared to shave its broadcast rights money - the current five-year deal was for $1.25 billion - in a bid to make the fixture more equitable.

He said a 20-round season, down from the current 22 matches over 25 weeks, would mean clubs would play each other once and there would be three themed rounds, ensuring all blockbusters were retained.

"They [AFL] stay at 22 [rounds] because of the huge money they earn out of the media rights. So cut your cloth and say, 'OK, maybe we are not going to earn quite as huge an amount [but] we are still going to earn an enormous amount of money'," he said on Saturday.

"I have been saying this for a while - take two rounds off, make it 20 rounds, not 22. And you play every team once, so there is 17, you have an opening round, a rivalry round and a heritage round sprinkled in, which enables you to get Essendon playing Collingwood at least twice, the [West Australian] derbies, the [Adelaide] showdowns twice and you lock in all that.

"You lock in an opening round so that the established games like Carlton and Richmond, they happen every year. Outside of those three, every team plays each other once. It's 20 rounds, you easily get your two byes in if that's the AFLPA's wish."

A cut in broadcast rights would mean a cut in the dividends given to clubs. It could also mean the salary cap would be reduced, or not escalate at its current rate.

"You are saying to the broadcasters we are 18 games shy of where we are now so, therefore, you don't pay us as much as you have before," Brayshaw said on Triple M. "But it is still an extraordinary amount of money and we retain the integrity of our competition and our draw.

"If you continue to go down the path we are going down, that's why it [the fixture] gets questioned every year."

One anomaly this season has meant Hawthorn does not play Melbourne until round 20. Yet, by then, for instance, the Hawks will have played the Swans and Gold Coast Suns twice.

The AFL has admitted this year's fixture has had its problems, with attendances down in Victoria. Using last year's ladder placings, it broke the clubs into three groups this season in a bid to ensure a more equitable fixture in terms of who they faced for a second time.

Some players, such as Geelong's Jimmy Bartel, support an 18-round fixture, while Melbourne and Sydney great Gerard Healy has called for a complete weekend off after round 22 as part of a build-up to the finals.

Players have pushed for two byes in a bid to ease the physical and mental pressures they face, but there is a belief among some in the industry that this second bye robs the season of momentum with finals spots still to be decided.

"I know the players association has been great and I was a massive push for it to become a stronger organisation when Andrew Demetriou took over ... but the players association have gone too far with what they want for the players, in terms of the rest," Carey said.

"I look at the clubs now. Some players are not getting back to training until December and stuff like that, they have got all this leave. Two byes a year is too much. There is no reason why you couldn't have one bye, especially if you shorten the season a little bit."

There will only be one bye next season because cricket's World Cup will delay the start of the season, but two byes are expected to return from 2016.