By Peter Ryan
The AFL will open the season with a grand final rematch between Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs on Wednesday March 16 as the league locked in round one ahead of the expected fixture release next week.
Geelong will play Essendon in a Saturday afternoon blockbuster between the two finalists from last season while Carlton meet Richmond in the traditional Thursday night clash between the two power clubs in what shapes as a record-breaking round.
A Christian Petracca-inspired Melbourne stormed to premiership victory over the Bulldogs. Credit: AFL Photos
St Kilda will play Collingwood at Marvel Stadium on Friday night and Hawthorn will play North Melbourne st the MCG on Sunday afternoon, with the AFL able to reward football-starved fans by having all 10 Victorian teams play each other in round one, giving Victorian fans the chance to see all teams live.
As part of the Victorian festival of football, all AFLW games in the final round of the season will be played in Victoria too on the weekend leading into the AFL season-opener. As well as a game in Ballarat, the matches will be played at traditional VFL venues including Victoria Park, Moorabbin, Punt Road, Arden Street and Kardinia Park.
A club source said it was likely that either Melbourne or the Western Bulldogs would play Carlton or Richmond on the following Thursday night to open round two.
The battle of the bridge between Sydney and the Giants will also open the season with Lance Franklin just five goals from reaching the 1000 goal milestone. Their round-one clash against the Giants will be played at Accor Stadium.
The Brisbane Lions will host Port Adelaide at the Gabba with both top four teams from 2021 battling it out while Adelaide will play Fremantle at the Adelaide Oval and West Coast will host Gold Coast in a twilight timeslot for Victorian fans.
The most recent grand final rematch to open a season was in 2009 when Hawthorn played Geelong at the MCG in the opening round after beating the Cats in the grand final. Geelong won that match to start a streak of 11 consecutive wins over the Hawks in what became known as Kennett’s Curse. The run ended in the 2013 qualifying final after Jeff Kennett had finished his first stint as Hawks’ president.
The AFL is expected to release the first nine rounds of the 2022 fixture next week with the timeslots for the remaining match-ups after round nine to be decided closer to the games to ensure blockbusters are in the best time slots and to also give the league flexibility if COVID-19 impacts on the season.
AFL ROUND ONE MATCH-UPS
- Wednesday March 16: Melbourne v Western Bulldogs, MCG, 7.10pm
- Thursday March 17: Carlton v Richmond, MCG, 7.25pm
- Friday March 18 Collingwood v St Kilda, Marvel Stadium, 7.50pm
- Saturday March 19: Geelong v Essendon, MCG, 2.10pm
- GWS v Sydney, Accor Stadium, 5.10pm
- Brisbane Lions v Port Adelaide, The Gabba, 8.10pm
- Sunday March 20: Hawthorn v North Melbourne, MCG, 1.10pm
- Adelaide v Fremantle, Adelaide Oval, 4.10pm
- West Coast v Gold Coast, Optus Stadium, 7.40pm
AFLW Round 10 (March 11-13, floating fixture)
- Collingwood v Gold Coast, Victoria Park
- Geelong v GWS, GMHBA Stadium
- Melbourne v Carlton, Casey Fields
- Kangaroos v West Coast, Arden Street
- Richmond v Brisbane Lions, Swinburne Centre
- St Kilda v Adelaide, RSEA Park
- Western Bulldogs v Fremantle, Mars Stadium