Football: The defending champs open their season on the road against Fremantle before an Easter Monday home clash against big rivals Hawthorn. The unfurling of the 2011 premiership flag will wait until round 4 against Richmond at Simonds Stadium and the first of two Grand Final rematches against Collingwood will be on a Friday night in round 8. The Cats leave Victoria six times and will play twice in Perth and twice in Queensland. They have just three return games against finalists from 2011 - Collingwood, Hawthorn and the Sydney Swans and have seven six-day breaks.

Business: Geelong plays a massive eight Friday night matches in 2011 including blockbusters against strong-drawing clubs Collingwood, Carlton, Essendon and Hawthorn. Seven home games are at the re-badged Simonds Stadium with Richmond, Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs slated to make the trip down the highway. Two home games are at the MCG (Collingwood and Hawthorn) and two are at Etihad Stadium (Essendon and St Kilda). The Cats will feature 16 times on Channel Seven.

Big game: Every side will be gunning for the Cats in 2012. They'll have long circled the dates with Geelong on their calendar. Hawthorn in round 2 will be big, round 8 in the Grand Final rematch against Collingwood bigger again. The Cats will also enjoy locking horns with Adelaide and the Western Bulldogs, both now coached by longtime Geelong identities Brenton Sanderson and Brendan McCartney.

To download a pdf version of the 2012 fixture, click here.
RDDATEOPPONENTVENUEH/A LOCAL TIME
1Saturday, March 31 FremantlePatersons StadiumAway4:40pm
2Monday, April 9 HawthornMCGHome3:10pm
3Sunday, April 15 North MelbourneEtihad StadiumAway4:40pm
4Sunday, April 22 RichmondSimonds StadiumHome1:10pm
5Saturday, April 28 Brisbane LionsGabbaAway7:40pm
6Saturday, May 5 MelbourneSimonds StadiumHome1:45pm
7Saturday, May 12 Adelaide CrowsAAMI StadiumAway1:15pm
8Friday, May 18 CollingwoodMCGAway7:50pm
9Friday, May 25 Western BulldogsEtihad StadiumAway7:50pm
10Saturday, June 2 GWS GIANTSSimonds StadiumHome1:45pm
11Friday, June 8 CarltonEtihad StadiumAway7:50pm
12Bye    
13Friday, June 22 Sydney SwansSCGAway7:50pm
14Sunday, July 1 Port AdelaideSimonds StadiumHome1:10pm
15Sunday, July 8 Gold Coast SUNSMetricon StadiumAway3:15pm
16Saturday, July 14 CollingwoodMCGHome7:40pm
17Friday, July 20 EssendonEtihad StadiumHome7:50pm
18Saturday, July 28 Adelaide CrowsSimonds StadiumHome1:45pm
19Friday, August 3 HawthornMCGAway7:50pm
20Friday, August 10 West Coast EaglesPatersons StadiumAway6:40pm
21Friday, August 17 St. KildaEtihad StadiumHome7:50pm
22Sunday, August 26 Western BulldogsSimonds StadiumHome1:10pm
23TBCSydney SwansSimonds StadiumHomeTBC


The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs