Adelaide Crows to start with six of first nine games at Adelaide Oval in AFL 2018

GRAND finalist Adelaide is back in prime time and has the chance to get its 2018 campaign off to a flying start with six of its first nine matches at Adelaide Oval.

Trent Cotchin and his Tigers will take on Adelaide twice in the 2018 AFL minor round. Picture: AAP

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GRAND finalist Adelaide is back in prime time and has the chance to get its 2018 campaign off to a flying start with six of its first nine matches at Adelaide Oval.

AFL fixture analyst Champion Data has rated the Crows’ draw as the eighth-hardest in the competition – Fremantle has the toughest fixture and Collingwood the easiest – but a series of early home matches should enable Don Pyke’s team to set its season up.

Of Adelaide’s first six home games, four are against bottom-eight teams from this year – the Magpies (round four), Gold Coast (round six), Carlton (round seven) and Western Bulldogs (round nine).

The Crows will also have a blockbuster Easter Thursday night grand final rematch against premier Richmond in round two – their opening home game.

“It’s always difficult to try to read the footy benefit into a fixture but it’s great to be able to start (with so many games) at home and have some stability there, given we are a travelling team,’’ Adelaide chief executive Andrew Fagan said on Tuesday.

“Having six of the first nine at home will hopefully get us off to a great start.’’

Adelaide, which will begin its season with a showcase game against Essendon at Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium on Friday, March 23, will for the first time play four consecutive games at Adelaide Oval between rounds six and nine.

Fagan described this as a “quirk’’ of the fixture.

The home-and-away fixture has rewarded the Crows for their recent on and off-field success with five Friday night matches and two Thursday night games.

No club will play more on Friday nights in 2018.

Along with the Thursday games, this gives Pyke’s men seven prime time matches.

Overall, Adelaide has 14 night and five twilight games.

Its fixture includes:

DOUBLE-UP games against hometown rival Port Adelaide - in rounds eight and 20 - Richmond, Greater Western Sydney, Melbourne and Carlton.
FACING defector Jake Lever at his new team of Melbourne in an Adelaide Oval grudge match in round 19 after he first meets his former Crows teammates in the heat of battle in Alice Springs in round 10.
FINALLY playing Carlton in Adelaide, where star Crows recruit Bryce Gibbs will play against his former Blues teammates for the first time. Carlton has not played the Crows in SA since round four, 2010.
HOSTING a Sir Doug Nicholls Indigenous Round game against the Giants at Adelaide Oval in round 11.
PLAYING a home game against North Melbourne in round 22 to mark the 20th anniversary of their 1998 grand final win against the Kangaroos.