2025 fixture discussion

[GC2015]

Almost that time of the year again when fixtures start leaking out. Tom Morris has reported that we'll be playing Essendon at Carrara on the Saturday night during Opening Round and North Melbourne in the Barossa Valley during Gather Round.

OR - Essendon @ Carrara (Sat night)
R1 - TBA
R2 - TBA
R3 - TBA
R4 - TBA
GR - North @ Barossa (Sat early arvo)
R6 - TBA
R7 - TBA
R8 - TBA
R9 - TBA
R10 - TBA
R11 - TBA
R12 - TBA
R13 - TBA
R14 - TBA
R15 - TBA
R16 - TBAV
R17 - TBA
R18 - TBA
R19 - TBA
R20 - TBA
R21 - TBA
R22 - TBA
R23 - TBA
R24 - TBA

What do you guys think? Are you happy with facing Essendon in Opening Round? Have you heard of any other 2025 fixture rumours?

 

[Jen2310]

Almost that time of the year again when fixtures start leaking out. Here's a recent X post that suggests we're going to play North Melbourne in the Barossa Valley during Gather Round in the early Saturday arvo slot and Jen2310 believes this means we will play Collingwood at Carrara in opening round. I'd imagine the Collingwood game would very likely be played on a Friday or Saturday night. We know the club has asked for more blockbuster games next year and prime time slots, so to start the season off against the Pies would guarantee a sell out as well as a lot of hype. John Noble against his old team.

What do you guys think? Would you be happy with the Pies in round 1? Have you heard any other fixture rumours?

Just process of elimination as you wouldn't think pies play sydney in OR and Gather Round
And we played GWS this year
Cant play lions, as we play them at easter.
so leaves Suns.

Unless of course, Pies dont get picked to play in OR....

Would be a blockbuster start to start the season though, so it would make sense. And then just play another big club during July school holidays

 

[GC2015]

Just process of elimination as you wouldn't think pies play sydney in OR and Gather Round
And we played GWS this year
Cant play lions, as we play them at easter.
so leaves Suns.

Unless of course, Pies dont get picked to play in OR....

Would be a blockbuster start to start the season though, so it would make sense. And then just play another big club during July school holidays

The Magpies will definitely play in opening round. We all know that lol.

So there's still the possibility that Collingwood will play GWS again? That opens the door for us to play a different team like Richmond, Essendon, Carlton etc. It would also retain the Collingwood fixture during the July holidays and I'm fairly sure that's one that we're trying to keep.

I have a feeling we might play Essendon in opening round. It was an unexpected sell out against the Bombers at Carrara this year and the club probably wants that to continue. Playing them in opening round likely results in another sell out. Either that or we play Richmond again and it's sold as Rioli against his old team, but I'm not as confident about that being a sell out. Carlton doesn't really have a selling point for us IMO.

 

[Maybe Tomorrow]

Just process of elimination as you wouldn't think pies play sydney in OR and Gather Round
And we played GWS this year
Cant play lions, as we play them at easter.
so leaves Suns.

Unless of course, Pies dont get picked to play in OR....

Would be a blockbuster start to start the season though, so it would make sense. And then just play another big club during July school holidays

Didn't Collingwood throw a wobbly about playing OR? Maybe they don't this year.

Thought them playing the Suns was locked in for the school holidays in July?

 

[Jen2310]

Didn't Collingwood throw a wobbly about playing OR? Maybe they don't this year.

Thought them playing the Suns was locked in for the school holidays in July?

Apparantely are fine with it now we have a longer preseason lol

 

[Jen2310]

The Magpies will definitely play in opening round. We all know that lol.

So there's still the possibility that Collingwood will play GWS again? That opens the door for us to play a different team like Richmond, Essendon, Carlton etc. It would also retain the Collingwood fixture during the July holidays and I'm fairly sure that's one that we're trying to keep.

I have a feeling we might play Essendon in opening round. It was an unexpected sell out against the Bombers at Carrara this year and the club probably wants that to continue. Playing them in opening round likely results in another sell out. Either that or we play Richmond again and it's sold as Rioli against his old team, but I'm not as confident about that being a sell out. Carlton doesn't really have a selling point for us IMO.

A chance, but twice in two years? Would they do that? What am I saying, the afl does what it wants lol

 

[Maybe Tomorrow]

Apparantely are fine with it now we have a longer preseason lol

Maybe we get Richmond again, the AFL love a subplot/grudge match.

Always good to start the year with a win

 

[Jen2310]

Maybe we get Richmond again, the AFL love a subplot/grudge match.

Always good to start the year with a win

Given how poorly richmond played this year, I doubt they will be included. Maybe substituted by Hawks or geelong?

 

[GC2015]

A chance, but twice in two years? Would they do that? What am I saying, the afl does what it wants lol

I could be wrong here, but I get the feeling that Collingwood are the only team that can guarantee a sell out in western Sydney and I'm fairly sure the AFL will want all opening round games to sell out again.

 

[Jen2310]

I could be wrong here, but I get the feeling that Collingwood are the only team that can guarantee a sell out in western Sydney and I'm fairly sure the AFL will want all opening round games to sell out again.

They def would want all the games to sell well. Its about starting off with a bang

 

[Jen2310]

Looks like you were on the money GC2015 Tom Morris saying pies will play GWS opening round.
So interesting to see who suns will play

 

[GC2015]

Looks like you were on the money GC2015 Tom Morris saying pies will play GWS opening round.
So interesting to see who suns will play

I'm sticking with my guess of Essendon. Richmond and Carlton are also possibilities, but I'm leaning towards the Bombers.

That also means we likely retain our July school holidays fixture against the Pies at Carrara. That's a good outcome for us.

 

[Jen2310]

I'm sticking with my guess of Essendon. Richmond and Carlton are also possibilities, but I'm leaning towards the Bombers.

That also means we likely retain our July school holidays fixture against the Pies at Carrara. That's a good outcome for us.

Looks like that is now a permanent fixture in the calendar - the school holidays game. It would be a good idea to lock it in year on year, a marque game like other clubs have with certain sides.

 

[The Victorian]

Tom Morris just said on 9 News that Gold Coast will play Essendon in Opening Round on the Saturday night.

 

[GC2015]

Looks like that is now a permanent fixture in the calendar - the school holidays game. It would be a good idea to lock it in year on year, a marque game like other clubs have with certain sides.

If we could find a reason to lock it in then that would help. Something like Easter Thursday or Dreamtime at the 'G that we can build on each year and it can be marketed as a marquee fixture.

Tom Morris just said on 9 News that Gold Coast will play Essendon in Opening Round on the Saturday night.

OP updated. I wonder if we'll get two home games in a row to start the season again.

 

[Giant Strides]

Blues drop Opening Round bombshell; possible season-opener revealed - Fixture Whispers

Blues drop Opening Round bombshell; possible season-opener revealed - Fixture Whispers

www.foxsports.com.au

According to Jay Clark, Geelong is a chance to take on the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba in the first game of the 2025 season where the Lions will unfurl their premiership flag.

Carlton wants to give Opening Round a miss next year, according to reports. According to the Herald Sun’s Jay Clark, the Blues are hoping to avoid a road-heavy schedule in the early part of next year which is part of the reason why they have told the league they would prefer to start their 2025 season in the traditional season-opener against Richmond at the MCG.

According to Tom Morris, there has “been a shift” in Collingwood’s stance on Opening Round. Morris reported that Collingwood’s position in July was that all 18 clubs should play across Opening Round to make it fair, but since missing out on this year’s finals campaign, the Pies have changed their tune. The Pies would be fine with a similar arrangement to this year, if that’s how the AFL decided to do things.

Predicting the Round 1 fixture for the 2025 AFL season

Is this how Round 1 could take shape next year?

www.zerohanger.com

Potential Round 1 fixture for 2025 AFL season​

Thursday, March 13
Richmond vs Carlton, MCG, 7:30pm

Friday, March 14
Hawthorn vs Essendon, MCG, 7:40pm

Saturday, March 15
St Kilda, vs North Melbourne, Marvel Stadium, 1:45pm
Geelong vs Western Bulldogs, GMHBA Stadium. 4:35pm
Collingwood vs Brisbane, MCG, 7:30pm
Port Adelaide vs GWS, Adelaide Oval, 8:10pm

Sunday, March 16
Melbourne vs Adelaide, MCG, 1:00pm
Sydney vs Fremantle, SCG, 3:20pm
West Coast vs Gold Coast, Optus Stadium, 4:40pm

 

[robo_1]

I'm sticking with my guess of Essendon. Richmond and Carlton are also possibilities, but I'm leaning towards the Bombers.

That also means we likely retain our July school holidays fixture against the Pies at Carrara. That's a good outcome for us.

I read somewhere recently Carlton wanted to only play Richmond to open their season

 

[GC2015]

Carlton wants to give Opening Round a miss next year, according to reports. According to the Herald Sun’s Jay Clark, the Blues are hoping to avoid a road-heavy schedule in the early part of next year which is part of the reason why they have told the league they would prefer to start their 2025 season in the traditional season-opener against Richmond at the MCG.

I read somewhere recently Carlton wanted to only play Richmond to open their season

Wanting to avoid a road-heavy schedule in the early part of next year? They played outside of Melbourne just twice in the first nine games of last season - one of those games was Gather Round on a neutral ground against Fremantle and the other was against Brisbane in opening round. They won both of those games and their away form was pretty good last year with four wins in six matches. Yes, Carlton only left Melbourne six times during the 2024 home and away season and we left Queensland 13 times...

Probably says a lot about Carlton. Demanding to not travel and instead play the wooden spooners in round 1 doesn't exactly give off an impression of a confident team. If recent history is anything to go by, Carlton know they need to get off to a good start because they tend to dip at some point in the season and they're probably really concerned that an early trip to NSW or Queensland potentially starts the dip very early in the season.

Potential Round 1 fixture for 2025 AFL season​

Thursday, March 13
Richmond vs Carlton, MCG, 7:30pm

Friday, March 14
Hawthorn vs Essendon, MCG, 7:40pm

Saturday, March 15
St Kilda, vs North Melbourne, Marvel Stadium, 1:45pm
Geelong vs Western Bulldogs, GMHBA Stadium. 4:35pm
Collingwood vs Brisbane, MCG, 7:30pm
Port Adelaide vs GWS, Adelaide Oval, 8:10pm

Sunday, March 16
Melbourne vs Adelaide, MCG, 1:00pm
Sydney vs Fremantle, SCG, 3:20pm
West Coast vs Gold Coast, Optus Stadium, 4:40pm

I'm fairly sure we're going to see either the Suns or Lions playing at home in round 1 (like we saw this year) just so it doesn't throw out the fixture. I'd even suggest they might just reverse that fixture and send West Coast to the Gold Coast in round 1. Brisbane v Collingwood in round 1 also seems unlikely to me given they'll play each other four weeks later in the Easter Thursday clash at the Gabba.

 

[Supersuns]

Wanting to avoid a road-heavy schedule in the early part of next year? They played outside of Melbourne just twice in the first nine games of last season - one of those games was Gather Round on a neutral ground against Fremantle and the other was against Brisbane in opening round. They won both of those games and their away form was pretty good last year with four wins in six matches. Yes, Carlton only left Melbourne six times during the 2024 home and away season and we left Queensland 13 times...

Probably says a lot about Carlton. Demanding to not travel and instead play the wooden spooners in round 1 doesn't exactly give off an impression of a confident team. If recent history is anything to go by, Carlton know they need to get off to a good start because they tend to dip at some point in the season and they're probably really concerned that an early trip to NSW or Queensland potentially starts the dip very early in the season.


I'm fairly sure we're going to see either the Suns or Lions playing at home in round 1 (like we saw this year) just so it doesn't throw out the fixture. I'd even suggest they might just reverse that fixture and send West Coast to the Gold Coast in round 1. Brisbane v Collingwood in round 1 also seems unlikely to me given they'll play each other four weeks later in the Easter Thursday clash at the Gabba.

They want 90k at the G for their first game. Not 15k in QLD

 

[GC2015]

They want 90k at the G for their first game. Not 15k in QLD

They'll get 80-90k the following week anyway. It happened this year when the Carlton-Richmond game pulled 83k after both clubs travelled to Queensland for opening round the week before.

 

[Supersuns]

They'll get 80-90k the following week anyway. It happened this year when the Carlton-Richmond game pulled 83k after both clubs travelled to Queensland for opening round the week before.

Yeah they will but it won't be their first game of the year. Big crowd and atmosphere for the first game of the year would be more important. I'd love for us to have a big sell out crowd to start the year.

 

[GC2015]

Yeah they will but it won't be their first game of the year. Big crowd and atmosphere for the first game of the year would be more important. I'd love for us to have a big sell out crowd to start the year.

Fair enough. Hopefully we upgrade our stadium soon and you can get more of the big crowd atmosphere you want in the future.

 

[Jen2310]

Playing Hawks in Darwin round 10

 

[Billy ray]

happy with that as our 'home' thursday night game - tv game for most of our fans

 

[robo_1]

Playing Hawks in Darwin round 10

It was good this year Saturday followed by Thursday and out of there after the game