Exactly. I am a bit surprised that we have known for days that it is (IIRC) 33 games in 19 days, but we don’t know what those games are.
Especially when 33 seems like a number that doesn’t have obvious logic behind it (ie it’s not 4 x 9, 3 x 9 or the like). My sense is that they have a specific plan in mind, they may just be dotting and crossing.
We won’t know the logic behind it but there will be media spin which may or may not reflect part of the truth. I suspect clubs know well before the public when matches are scheduled but it doesn’t get realeased until all boxes are ticked and there is free air in relation to media coverage.
My take is the hub model costs mega bucks and players don’t want to be there. It will be sped up as much as possible. 153 games shouldn’t be considered in terms of rounds and byes just matches that have to be played in any order constrained by a whole bunch of factors.
“Rounds 9 to 12” is really just rounds 9 to 11 with 6 extra games totalling 33 games. Teams are playing more not less so they aren’t really getting a bye/rest or an extra round (18) when in fact the season will be 1-2 weeks shorter. Many sports operate this way or postpone games for a variety of reasons.
If 3 days rest is the minimum some teams could potentially play 3 time in 9 days but most likely 1 short break will be followed by a slightly longer one. More teams gives greater flexibility to move games around to manage breaks. Ideally the would fixture the remaining games in a single block and adjust as required But with so many moving parts 4 weeks will be more than enough info to make informed choices. If they drip feed week by week that will be horrendous by all teams are in the same boat.