2016 AFL Fixture: Live coverage

So there you have it!

There was plenty of huge news to come out of today's fixture announcement, be sure to stay tuned to realfooty.com.au for all the analysis from the best footy experts in the business.

New Giant Steve Johnson is due to face his old side Geelong in Round 2 in Canberra.

The big take-out from today's fixture announcement was the introduction of a bye weekend following Round 23

Almost half of next year's Friday night games will be played outside of Melbourne.

Here's the breakdown:

MCG - 6

Etihad Stadium - 5

Adelaide Oval - 3

Domain Stadium - 3

Simonds Stadium - 2

Blundstone Arena - 1

SCG - 1

Other notable features of the draw include:

• Richmond and Melbourne playing the only Sunday night fixture of the year, on Anzac Eve at the MCG.
• Saturday night matches in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland will be pushed back by five minutes to a 7.25pm starting time.
• St Kilda hosting Collingwood on a Saturday afternoon at the MCG in Round 3 as part of the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of its one and only premiership.
• Other big Saturday afternoon MCG clashes include Collingwood-Carlton (Round 7), Collingwood-Geelong (Round 9) and Hawthorn-North Melbourne (Round 21).
• All up there will be 48 day weekend games in Victoria compared to 47 last year.
• The bye weekends will take place through rounds 13-15, during which there will be six matches each weekend.
• Adelaide and West Coast get three matches at the MCG, while Port Adelaide gets two.
• North Melbourne gets only one game at the MCG.
• In Round 2, Fremantle's Harley Bennell plays against his former club Gold Coast
• Hawthorn playing at the Gabba for the first time since 2008.

Regarding the post-Round 23 bye, McLachlan said: 'I'm confident it's the right way forward. There's huge opportunity there to create a bigger and bolder finals series."