Announced by the AFL on Wednesday morning, the Blues will take on the Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide Power on Sunday, February 26th at AAMI Stadium.
Week 1 of the NAB Cup will see a round-robin set-up, with each game played over two 20-minute halves.
As part of the new-look competition, the NAB Regional Challenge disappears and the matches over the following fortnight - to be staged at both regular AFL venues and select regional centres, will also count in the NAB Cup standings.
Unlike the opening round-robin matches, again to be played over two 20-minute halves, all matches in the second and third rounds will be full-scale, four-quarter affairs.
The Blues will take on the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium in week 2 and the Brisbane Lions in week 3 (location TBC).
All matches will count equally with four points for a win and percentage also being taken into account. The two best-performed teams over the three rounds (two shortened and two full games) will play off in the NAB Cup Grand Final on March 17.
The 16 clubs who don't make the Grand Final will play one last NAB Cup match at various metropolitan locations across Australia on the weekend of March 16-18, a fortnight before most clubs will start their 2012 home and away seasons.
All first round NAB Cup matches will be televised exclusively live by Fox Sports, while 11 matches over the next two weeks will be also shown exclusively on Fox Sports. The Grand Final will be shown live on Seven and Fox Sports as part of the League's new broadcasting agreement. In addition, one match per round will be broadcast on Telstra T-Box services, while all matches shown by Fox Sports will be broadcast on Telstra mobile.
To learn more about the 2012 NAB Cup, click here.
