The AFL today released the fixture for the 2017 Toyota AFL Premiership Season.

AFL Chief Executive Officer Gillon McLachlan and AFL General Manager Clubs and AFL Operations Travis Auld detailed the key points of the fixture today, which will see an increase in the number of prime time Thursday night matches (by three, to eight), a first-ever match played in Asia for premiership points and a first match played in regional Victoria (Ballarat) for premiership points in anywhere other than Geelong in more than 60 years.

Mr McLachlan said the season would be played across a 23-round format for all clubs to play 11 home and away games with one bye, while retaining the second bye across the weekend of September 1-3 that was introduced in 2016 after the final round, to enable the top eight clubs to prepare for the 2017 Toyota AFL Finals Series.

The 2017 Toyota AFL Grand Final will be played on Saturday September 30.

The season structure will have 19 rounds of nine matches, one round (round nine) of eight matches and three rounds across rounds 11/12/13 where six, seven and six matches will be played across those weeks. Port Adelaide and the Gold Coast Suns, who will play in the first-ever match in China at Jiangwan Sports Centre in round eight, will both have their bye in round nine with the remaining 16 clubs to have their byes across rounds 11-13.

Eureka Stadium in Ballarat will host reigning premiers the Western Bulldogs against Port Adelaide in round 22 as a Saturday afternoon game on August 19 - the first premiership season match played in any regional Victorian venue apart from Geelong since the then-VFL played matches at Yallourn and Euroa during the 1952 season.

The AFL also elected to schedule a game on Good Friday for the first time, where North Melbourne will host the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium as a twilight game. The AFL will fixture different teams through this match in coming years, with no set match-up to be locked in as per Anzac Day.

Mr McLachlan said the fixture was constructed with the primary aim to maximise attendances at all matches to enable fans to access the game in strong numbers, as well as to continue to build the AFL game as the number one code in this country.

“The AFL enjoyed an outstanding season in 2016, highlighted by a finals series that saw compelling matches across every weekend and an emotional drought-breaking premiership for the Western Bulldogs," Mr McLachlan said.

"The AFL's primary goal is that all clubs can compete equally for top-eight spots and then those clubs playing in September can have the best possible lead-in and preparation for the most important matches of our season,” he said.

A standard round, as part of the AFL’s agreement with the Seven Network and Foxtel/FOX FOOTY, will continue to feature one Friday night match, two Saturday afternoon matches, one Saturday twilight match, two Saturday night matches, one early Sunday match, one Sunday afternoon match and one Sunday twilight match.

Mr McLachlan said the fixture included an increase in the number of high-profile Thursday night matches that would be played, with eight games scheduled in all, compared to five for the 2016 season. Thursday night games would be played in rounds 1-2 and on Easter Thursday, before five matches from rounds 10-14 encompassing the period around the first bye for all clubs.

“The 2017 Toyota AFL Premiership Season will open with a Thursday night match at the MCG between Carlton and Richmond, with Richmond to then host Collingwood on the Thursday night in round two, and a match on Easter Thursday, while the AFL scheduled the five mid-season Thursday night matches to all be played outside of Melbourne in Adelaide (two), Geelong (one), Perth (one) and Sydney (one),” Mr McLachlan said.

The AFL had also determined that both Thursday and stand-alone Friday night matches would largely feature those sides who had performed strongly on the field in 2016 in these key marquee timeslots - the Sydney Swans to have nine games, the Western Bulldogs and the Adelaide Crows to have seven games and the Geelong Cats to have six games.

The youngest side in the competition, the GWS Giants, will also be placed on Friday night for the first time in the 2017 season after their strong efforts in reaching this season's preliminary final, being scheduled for three Friday nights, including a first-ever prime-time home match against the Bulldogs in Canberra in round six.

“In 2016, the Bulldogs and the Giants as two key examples of teams who have not featured in our marquee match slots in recent years, both played outstanding football through the premiership season and played a compelling sold-out final at Spotless Stadium that eventually fell the Dogs' way,” Mr McLachlan said.

Brad Cramb, Chief Marketing Officer, Toyota Motor Corporation Australia, said Toyota as premier partner to the AFL was hoping 2017 could match the excitement of the 2016 season.

“Last year brought so many unexpected thrilling clashes and nail-biting games, and we’re hoping for more of the same this season,' he said.

"We can’t wait for the start of the Toyota AFL 2017 Premiership Season and another exciting year of footy”.

Mr McLachlan said Mr Auld, as the AFL executive responsible for the production of the fixture, had worked with varying timeslots and match placements in various states, to best reflect the differing needs of fans in various parts of the country.

“Across the country, we have sought to work with the respective clubs in each state for the best timeslots for fans in those parts of the country,” Mr Auld said.

Mr Auld said the AFL had again not considered any matches on Sunday nights or Monday nights, apart from one match between MCG co-tenants Richmond and Melbourne on the public holiday eve before Anzac Day.

He said a key consideration was the five games that provided second match-ups for each club, with the AFL using the final 2016 ladder as the basis for this work.

"The fixture has many constraints, which are well-known to our fans and across the competition, and equity around the fixture, when all teams do not play each other both home and away, is a key priority," Mr Auld said.

In Victoria in 2016, there will be a continued focus on weekend afternoon football with 22 Saturday day games, 34 Sunday day games, two holiday Monday games and one holiday Tuesday game for a total of 59 day games overall in Victoria, after 48 day games were played in 2016 and 47 day games were played in 2015.

Among the afternoon games in Victoria in 2017 will be all-Victorian match-ups including St Kilda v Melbourne (round one), Geelong Cats v North Melbourne and Melbourne v Carlton (round two), Geelong Cats v Melbourne (round three), Collingwood v St Kilda and Hawthorn v Geelong Cats (round four), St Kilda v Geelong Cats and Essendon v Collingwood (round five), Essendon v Melbourne and Geelong Cats v Collingwood (round six), Collingwood v Carlton and Melbourne v Hawthorn (round seven), St Kilda v Carlton (round eight), Melbourne v North Melbourne (round nine), Carlton v North Melbourne (round 10), Melbourne v Collingwood (round 12), Western Bulldogs v Melbourne (round 13), Richmond v Carlton (round 14), Hawthorn v Collingwood (round 15), Collingwood v Essendon and Carlton v Melbourne (round 16), Geelong Cats v Hawthorn and St Kilda v Essendon (round 17), Essendon v North Melbourne (round 18), Carlton v Geelong Cats (round 19), Essendon v Carlton (round 20), Melbourne v St Kilda (round 21) and St Kilda v North Melbourne (round 22).

A total of 198 home and away matches of season 2017 will be played in venues throughout every state and territory, with matches outside the regular capital cities to be played in Ballarat (one), Cairns (one), Darwin (one), Alice Springs (one), Hobart (three), Canberra (three) and Launceston (four).

Key features of the 2017 Toyota AFL Premiership Season include:

· Opening Round to commence on Thursday March 23, with a Thursday night match between Carlton and Richmond. Reigning premiers the Western Bulldogs will play their first Friday night match of the season the next night when hosted by Collingwood, giving new recruit Travis Cloke an immediate opportunity to face his former team.
· Round One to feature a QClash between the Gold Coast Suns and the Brisbane Lions at Metricon Stadium, as well as Essendon hosting Hawthorn in a Saturday night blockbuster at the MCG.
· Round Two to be highlighted by a second Thursday night game at the MCG at the start of the season, with Richmond hosting traditional rival Collingwood. The Bulldogs will unveil their premiership flag in a Friday night re-match of the Grand Final against the Sydney Swans at Etihad Stadium.
· Round Three will see the first of seven matches to be played in Tasmania, with North Melbourne to play three home matches at Hobart’s Blundstone Arena, against the GWS Giants (Round Three), Adelaide Crows (Round Seven) and Melbourne (Round 19), while Hawthorn will play four matches at Launceston’s University of Tasmania Stadium, hosting St Kilda (Round Six), the Brisbane Lions (Round Eight), GWS Giants (Round 16) and North Melbourne (Round 21).
· GWS GIANTS to host three matches in Canberra in Rounds Four, Six and 20, against Port Adelaide, the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne, including a first-ever Friday night match against the Bulldogs.
· The first-ever match for premiership points in Asia when Port Adelaide plays the Gold Coast Suns at Jiangwan Sports Centre in China in round eight.
· Two matches in the Northern Territory with Melbourne to host the Gold Coast Suns in Round 10 in Alice Springs and then hosting the Adelaide Crows in Darwin in round 17.
· Western Bulldogs v Gold Coast Suns match at Cazalys Stadium in Cairns will take place in Round 18.
• Matches in which star players confront their former club for the first time to be dotted through the season – Western Bulldogs' Travis Cloke and Gold Coast's Pearce Hanley against Collingwood and the Brisbane Lions respectively in round one; Hawthorn's Jaeger O'Meara against the Gold Coast Suns in round three; West Coast's Sam Mitchell against Hawthorn in round five; Melbourne's Michael Hibberd against Essendon in round six; Melbourne's Jordan Lewis against Hawthorn in round seven; GWS Giants' Brett Deledio against Richmond in round nine; Hawthorn's Tom Mitchell against the Sydney Swans in round 10; Collingwood's Chris Mayne against Fremantle in round 11; Fremantle's Brad Hill against Hawthorn in round 18; both Fremantle's Cam McCarthy against the GWS Giants, the Geelong Cats' Zach Tuohy against Carlton and Richmond's Dion Prestia against the Gold Coast Suns all in round 19; Hawthorn's Ty Vickery against Richmond and Collingwood's Daniel Wells against North Melbourne in round 20, concluding with Richmond's Josh Caddy against the Geelong Cats in round 21.
· Eight Thursday night matches across the season with two to be played at the MCG in the opening two rounds. The remaining six games will be played in round four and then in five consecutive weeks from rounds 10-14 when the AFL is able to manage appropriate breaks for all competing clubs around the bye rounds. Each of the last six games will be played outside of Victoria with one each at Simonds Stadium and the SCG and two each at Domain Stadium and the Adelaide Oval.
· Essendon's turn to host Collingwood as a stand-alone game on ANZAC Day at the MCG on the holiday Tuesday. In that round, Port Adelaide will host Carlton at Adelaide Oval in the match to recognise Peter Badcoe VC, Fremantle will host North Melbourne in the Len Hall Tribute Match and Richmond will host Melbourne will host at the MCG in an ANZAC Eve match on the Monday night.
. The single Anzac Eve match will be the only Monday night match of the year with the AFL again not playing matches in this timeslot.
· Sir Doug Nicholls Round, to celebrate the contribution of indigenous players to the game, to be celebrated in Round 10, highlighted by the showpiece Richmond v Essendon “Dreamtime at the ‘G” match on the Saturday night. This round will also see a Thursday night match at Simonds Stadium between the Geelong Cats and Port Adelaide, and recent Grand Final opponents the Sydney Swans and Hawthorn opposed at the SCG in a Marn Grook game on Friday night.
· The second rematch between 2016 Toyota AFL Grand Final opponents the Sydney Swans and the Western Bulldogs to take place in Round 12 at the SCG as a Thursday night match.
· A mid-season break for all clubs to be spread across Rounds 11, 12 and 13, except for the Gold Coast Suns and Port Adelaide, who will have their break in round nine after playing in China.
· Melbourne and Collingwood to meet in the traditional Queen’s Birthday Monday holiday match at the MCG in Round 12.
. The continuation of a second bye, after round 23, which was introduced for the 2016 season, to enable those clubs competing in the 2017 Toyota AFL Finals Series to have the best possible preparation.
· Intra-state rivalries in Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and New South Wales to be maintained with two Q-Clashes between the Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast SUNS (Rounds One and 21), two derbies between the West Coast Eagles and Fremantle (Rounds Six and 17), two Showdowns between the Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide (Rounds Three and 20) and two derbies between the Sydney Swans and GWS GIANTS (Rounds Five and 17).
· Matches scheduled both home and away between strong-drawing Victorian clubs to maximise attendances and television audiences – Richmond-Carlton (rounds one and 14); Carlton-Essendon (rounds three and 20); Geelong Cats-Hawthorn (rounds four and 17); Collingwood-Essendon (rounds five and 16); Geelong Cats-Collingwood (rounds six and 22) and Hawthorn-Collingwood (rounds nine and 15).
· Minimum six-day break for all clubs between each match, with the exception only for the West Coast Eagles going into a home Easter Thursday game and Collingwood and Essendon coming out of the Tuesday Anzac Day match, who will have five days after that game.
· All Victorian-based clubs to travel interstate on a minimum of five occasions.
· All clubs to play at least one match both at the MCG and Etihad Stadium, as part of a minimum four in Victoria.

Mr Auld said all clubs had been consulted in relation to their fixture over the last week with the document completed after discussions with the AFL's broadcast partners - the Seven Network, Fox Footy and Telstra – and venues.

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