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2017 AFL season opener date, start time, Round 1 fixtures

The 2016 AFL grand final. (AAP Image/Julian Smith)
22nd March, 2017
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The Western Bulldogs will be out to defend their AFL premiership in 2017, with the season getting underway on Thursday, March 23 at 7:20pm with the opener seeing the Carlton Blues taking on the Richmond Tigers at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

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Round 1 sees a Thursday game, before the usual fare across the weekend with one on Friday, four on Saturday and three played on Sunday afternoon.

After the success of 2016 for the Western Bulldogs when they broke a more than half a century long premiership drought, they now set their sights on going back-to-back, although the favourites are widely considered to be the Greater Western Sydney Giants.

The Bullogs will get their campaign underway on Friday night at the MCG against the Collingwood Magpies while the team they defeated in last year’s grand final – the Sydney Swans – will host Port Adelaide at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday Afternoon in what is expected to be a big Round 1 win for them.

Favourites the Giants will have to wait until Sunday afternoon in Adelaide to make a start to their season, as they take on the Crows at the beautiful Adelaide Oval.

The opener, to be played between Carlton and Richmond sees two sides who missed the top eight last year and aren’t expected to go brilliantly this year.

Here are all the Round 1 fixtures for the AFL Season.

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Full Round 1 fixtures

Date Time (AEDT) Home Away Venue
Thu Mar 23 7:20 PM Carlton Blues Richmond Tigers Melbourne Cricket Ground
Fri Mar 24 7:50 PM Collingwood Magpies Western Bulldogs Melbourne Cricket Ground
Sat Mar 25 4:35 PM St Kilda Saints Melbourne Demons Etihad Stadium
Sat Mar 25 4:35 PM Sydney Swans Port Adelaide Power Sydney Cricket Ground
Sat Mar 25 7:25 PM Gold Coast Suns Brisbane Lions Metricon Stadium
Sat Mar 25 7:25 PM Essendon Bombers Hawthorn Hawks Melbourne Cricket Ground
Sun Mar 26 1:10 PM North Melbourne Kangaroos West Coast Eagles Etihad Stadium
Sun Mar 26 3:20 PM Adelaide Crows Greater Western Sydney Giants Adelaide Oval
Sun Mar 26 7:40 PM Fremantle Dockers Geelong Cats Domain Stadium

The AFL Season comprises of 23 rounds and a four week finals series, with the grand final to be played on the first Saturday in October.

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