The AFL pre-season competition, the JLT Community series, begins this year on Thursday, March 16 at 7:40pm (AEDT) as the Collingwood Magpies take on the Essendon Bombers, and ends on Sunday, March 12 with a triple-header. This is The Roar’s ultimate guide to the competition.
In 2016, when the competition was still known as the NAB Challenge saw three teams – the Fremantle Dockers, Collingwood Magpies and Melbourne Demons – go undefeated, although there is no longer a winner of grand final to the competition as there was pre-2013.
| Date | Time (AEDT) | Home | Away | Venue |
| Thu Feb 16 | 7:40 PM | Collingwood Magpies | Essendon Bombers | Etihad Stadium |
| Fri Feb 17 | 7:40 PM | Hawthorn Hawks | Geelong Cats | University of Tasmania Stadium |
| Sat Feb 18 | 2:05 PM | Greater Western Sydney Giants | West Coast Eagles | Narrandera Sports Ground |
| Sat Feb 18 | 4:40 PM | Western Bulldogs | Melbourne Demons | VU Whitten Oval |
| Sun Feb 19 | 2:05 PM | Sydney Swans | North Melbourne Kangaroos | Coffs Harbour International Stadium |
| Sun Feb 19 | 4:40 PM | Gold Coast Suns | Brisbane Lions | Broadbeach Sports Club |
| Thu Feb 23 | 7:40 PM | St Kilda Saints | Port Adelaide Power | Etihad Stadium |
| Fri Feb 24 | 7:40 PM | Richmond Tigers | Adelaide Crows | Etihad Stadium |
| Sat Feb 25 | 2:05 PM | Melbourne Demons | Carlton Blues | Casey Fields |
| Sat Feb 25 | 6:40 PM | West Coast Eagles | Fremantle Dockers | Wonthella Oval |
| Sun Feb 26 | 2:05 PM | North Melbourne Kangaroos | Hawthorn Hawks | North Melbourne Recreation Reserve |
| Sun Feb 26 | 4:40 PM | Gold Coast Suns | Essendon Bombers | Harrup Park |
| Thu Mar 2 | 7:40 PM | Western Bulldogs | Brisbane Lions | Etihad Stadium |
| Fri Mar 3 | 7:40 PM | Greater Western Sydney Giants | Sydney Swans | Blacktown International Sportspark |
| Sat Mar 4 | 2:05 PM | Carlton Blues | St Kilda Saints | Ikon Park |
| Sat Mar 4 | 4:40 PM | Fremantle Dockers | Collingwood Magpies | Rushton Park |
| Sun Mar 5 | 2:05 PM | Adelaide Crows | Geelong Cats | Richmond Oval |
| Sun Mar 5 | 4:40 PM | Port Adelaide Power | Richmond Tigers | Malseed Park |
| Thu Mar 9 | 5:50 PM | Gold Coast Suns | Western Bulldogs | Metricon Stadium |
| Thu Mar 9 | 8:40 PM | West Coast Eagles | Melbourne Demons | Domain Stadium |
| Fri Mar 10 | 5:50 PM | Greater Western Sydney Giants | North Melbourne Kangaroos | Manuka Oval |
| Fri Mar 10 | 8:40 PM | Fremantle Dockers | Carlton Blues | Domain Stadium |
| Sat Mar 11 | 1:10 PM | Richmond Tigers | Collingwood Magpies | Ted Summerton Reserve |
| Sat Mar 11 | 4:10 PM | Adelaide Crows | Brisbane Lions | Hickinbotham Oval |
| Sun Mar 12 | 1:10 PM | Port Adelaide Power | Hawh | Hickinbotham Oval |
| Sun Mar 12 | 4:10 PM | Geelong Cats | Essendon Bombers | Queen Elizabeth Oval |
| Sun Mar 12 | 7:10 PM | St Kilda Saints | Sydney Swans | Lavington Sports Ground |
The 2017 competition will see 27 games across the space of four weeks, with venues being local and regional grounds, as well as traditional club home grounds while Thursday and Friday games are more often than not held at bigger venues.
As has been the case since 2013, there will be no winner of the pre-season competition.
The only way to watch every single game of the 2017 JLT Community Series will be through Fox Footy, who are providing live coverage of every game. This can be found on Foxtel Channel 504 and for it, you must have a valid Foxtel Sports package.
This means the only way to legally live stream the competition online will be through Foxtel Go which allow users to stream Foxtel channels.
Foxtel Go allows users with a Foxtel Sports subscription to stream the channels, while Play is more helpful if you only want to stream Foxtel, not requiring you to have a valid TV subscription.
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.
Round 8 is finally over - and with thrilling finishes, epic goals and some supremely gutsy performances, what a weekend it was! Collingwood continued…
Not often you see an umpire reverse his own decision!
Commentator Jack Riewolt was shocked the game wasn't stopped so he could get treatment.
Running into an open goal, everyone thought the Hawks sub kicked it at first!
It was not quite a quarter of a furlong according to the former Tigers' forward.
