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The AFL has revealed its fixtures for Round 1 of the 2016 season, with Richmond and Carlton to kick off the year once again.
The Tigers and the Blues will meet at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday, March 24 for the season-opener.
The two sides also opened the 2015 season, and have been traditional opponents in the first round for a number of years now.
The AFL has once again neglected to schedule a match on Good Friday, but Saturday afternoon will see Melbourne meet Greater Western Sydney at the MCG, and Gold Coast host Essendon at Metricon Stadium.
The Saturday night games will feature Sydney and Collingwood at ANZ Stadium, and North Melbourne and Adelaide at Etihad Stadium.
On Sunday the Western Bulldogs will host Fremantle at Etihad Stadium, Port Adelaide will play St Kilda at Adelaide Oval, and West Coast will meet Brisbane at Domain Stadium.
Finally on Easter Monday we will see the now-traditional bout between Geelong and Hawthorn.
There’s a number of things that already look appealing about the first round of next year’s AFL season.
We’ll see Don Pyke and John Worsfold take the chair for the first time as the new senior coaches of Adelaide and Essendon respectively, and a host of players will don new colours for the first time after a busy off-season.
The Easter Monday clash in particular promises some excitement as a new-look Geelong, headed by star recruit Patrick Dangerfield, is unveiled for the first time on the biggest of stages.
The set dates – a week earlier than last year’s fixture – should guarantee that this year’s grand final is again played on the ‘last Saturday in September’.
The full 2016 fixture is expected to see release this Thursday.
Round 1, 2016
Thursday, March 24
Richmond v Carlton, MCG
Saturday, March 25
Melbourne v Greater Western Sydney, MCG
Gold Coast v Essendon, Metricon Stadium
Sydney Swans v Collingwood, ANZ Stadium
North Melbourne v Adelaide, Etihad Stadium
Sunday, March 26
Western Bulldogs v Fremantle, Etihad Stadium
Port Adelaide v St Kilda, Adelaide Oval
West Coast v Brisbane Lions, Domain Stadium
Monday, March 27
Geelong v Hawthorn, MCG