Izak Rankine to miss Collingwood clash as 2026 AFL fixture offers up different opportunities for Crows, Power
Adelaide will be footy free until the third week of the 2026 AFL season in a move that has angered both the Crows and Port Adelaide.
Adelaide will be footy free until the third week of the 2026 AFL season in a move that’s been slammed by Crows chairman John Olsen.
A Women’s National Cricket League match between South Australia and NSW has been scheduled to be played at Adelaide Oval on March 14, the Saturday of Round 1, meaning neither of the South Australian sides will feature at home.
In a big surprise when the 2026 fixture was released on Thursday, the Crows will instead take on Collingwood at the MCG on the Saturday night while the Power will tackle North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium on the Sunday.
With both the SA sides not part of Opening Round again, it means the first time footy fans can experience an AFL game in 2026 will be when the Crows host the Western Bulldogs in a Friday night match in Round 2.
While Power fans have to wait until Round 3 against Essendon to see their side at Adelaide Oval for the first time under Josh Carr.
Both clubs questioned the decision on Thursday.
Crows chairman Olsen said the two AFL clubs were Adelaide Oval’s biggest tenants.
“I am disappointed that neither of the AFL clubs are playing at Adelaide Oval in Round 1,” he said.
“That is not in our hands, that is in the hands of others, the AFL and Adelaide Oval.
“It is disappointing that the two biggest tenants at Adelaide Oval, the Adelaide Football Club and Port Adelaide, the two biggest contributors to the financial performance of Adelaide Oval is the Adelaide Football Club and the Port Adelaide Football Club.
“So it is disappointing from our point of view that neither team is playing at Adelaide Oval in Round 1.”
Port Adelaide chief executive Matthew Richardson also bemoaned the fact that the clubs didn’t have a say in it.
“It is disappointing for South Australian footy fans,” he said.
“It is a decision that is out of our hands but as one of the major stakeholders in Adelaide Oval it is disappointing that the AFL clubs really don’t have any say in that.”
Earlier this year the footy, cricket and the State Government clashed over a proposal for the Sheffield Shield final to be held at Adelaide Oval in between two AFL matches.
While the Adelaide Oval ground staff maintained they could turn it back into a footy ground from a cricket one in time, the AFL raised concerns about player safety and logistics.
And it used discussions to try and waive all fees clubs have to pay relating to the Footy Express for the entire year.
Meanwhile Olsen said the Crows did not request to take on Collingwood at the MCG in Round 1 to prevent Izak Rankine from facing the Magpies fans.
The Crows open their season against the Magpies in what will be the final game of Rankine’s four-match ban for the use of a homophobic slur towards Collingwood player Isaac Quaynor in the Round 23 clash between them.
In the qualifying final two weeks later Quaynor was one of a number of Collingwood players who were booed by the Adelaide Oval crowd, which was widely slammed.
Olsen said sparring Rankine from a potentially poisonous crowd at the MCG “was part of any discussion” as to when the Crows took on Collingwood in Melbourne in 2026.
“No absolutely not,” he said.
“We’d like Izak Rankine in every single game we play, he is one of our best players and a really important part of our squad.
“When he is not playing that really showed up at the end of this past season, so from our point of view we want Izak Rankine playing every possible game he can.”
ANALYSIS: Contenders or pretenders? We’ll learn truth about Crows quick
Adelaide fans will find out very quickly just where the Crows sit in terms of contenders for 2026.
The Crows have been well and truly rewarded for their stunning rise to minor premiers in 2025 with Matthew Nicks’ side getting a bonanza of Thursday and Friday night clashes in the first round of scheduled fixes, as well as some big Saturday night matches as well.
But with the big games come tough opponents.
And the Crows start to the season is exactly that.
Collingwood at the MCG to open, the Western Bulldogs at home, Geelong in Geelong, Fremantle in Adelaide, Carlton in the Gather Round opener, St Kilda at Adelaide Oval and Brisbane at the Gabba all come before a Round 8 Showdown – where the form book is thrown out the window.
It’s a run of games that will tell us very early if the Crows are well and truly on their way to consistent contenders, or a side that made the most of its fixtures last year and found form at the right time but couldn’t replicate this in finals.
There’s no double-up matches against North Melbourne or West Coast to fall back on, although they do play Richmond twice so that should be two wins for Nicks side.
Again they travel to Launceston to take on Hawthorn at a ground where the Hawks win nearly all of the time.
But they do avoid two matches against Gold Coast, who should be well and truly up there after making finals for the first time and their off-season, as well as a Sydney side tipped by many to improve.
For Port Adelaide it is a low key start to life under Josh Carr, with plenty of Sunday timeslots scheduled so far.
But the Power have been given a start that gives it a great opportunity for a fast start with Carr at the wheel.
North Melbourne, Essendon, West Coast and Richmond before the Sunday night Gather Round closer against St Kilda are at this stage looking as soft as it an opening four rounds it could be.
The Power has been confident that it can bounce back in 2026 after it was hit hard by injury in 2025.
The AFL has given Port the best chance of sending an early statement that 2025 was just a dip and the Power can bounce back now that Carr has the keys.
Originally published as Izak Rankine to miss Collingwood clash as 2026 AFL fixture offers up different opportunities for Crows, Power
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