Mark Thompson and his men will play Collingwood the night before Good Friday in a match certain to have the MCG rocking, with the Cats getting to host the only game between the two clubs next season.
The Cats will help kick-off the opening round when they take on Hawthorn at the MCG on the Friday night of round one, while they get to host the Hawks at the same venue in round 17 – another match likely to draw a huge crowd.
Geelong still has eight matches at its home fortress of Skilled Stadium, while it plays five games at the MCG and four at Telstra Dome. Just one of its matches at the Docklands venue is a home game – that being the round-nine clash with the Western Bulldogs on a Friday night.
Cat fans taking a quick glimpse at the draw may be alarmed to see back-to-back matches at Subiaco – two of Geelong’s five interstate travels for the season – however they are broken up by the split round.
Other interstate trips include AAMI Stadium (Adelaide), the Gabba (Brisbane Lions) and ANZ Stadium (Sydney Swans).
“Overall we are comfortable with the draw, which is never an easy exercise for the AFL." Geelong CEO Brian Cook said.
"We are excited to have home games at the MCG against Collingwood and Hawthorn, as last year we did not have an opportunity to draw 60,000 plus in any of our 11 ‘home’ matches.
The Cats have a reduced number of Friday night and Saturday games and after playing just four Sunday matches in 2008, will have seven next season.
Like 2008, the Cats finish their home and away campaign with a Skilled Stadium outing.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.
