SYDNEY will host West Coast at GMHBA Stadium in Geelong in round 16, after the Swans were forced out of New South Wales due to a COVID-19 outbreak.
It will be the first time the Swans have played at the venue in two years, previously taking on the Cats in June 2019, while the Eagles were comprehensively humbled by the Cats in round six this year.
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The match will be kick off at 1.10pm AEST on Sunday, July 4 and will be the first non-Geelong game for premiership points at the venue.
Despite its poor form, Gold Coast will nab one of the coveted prime-time slots, taking on Richmond on Thursday night at Metricon Stadium.
Geelong will have its fourth consecutive prime-time match, hosting the high-scoring Essendon at GMHBA Stadium on Friday night.
The in-form Cats (Thursday night's capitulation to Brisbane aside) have played exclusively on Thursday and Friday nights for the past month.
Greater Western Sydney, who is already in Melbourne, will remain in Victoria for the next week before being hosted by the Demons at the MCG at 1:45pm AEST on Saturday, July 3.
Adelaide hosts Brisbane in the twilight slot, with Hawthorn-Port Adelaide on Saturday night in what will be Shaun Burgoyne's 400th match.
Fremantle-Carlton is the other Saturday night match, while Collingwood hosts St Kilda at the MCG on Sunday and the Western Bulldogs-North Melbourne clash closes the round.
"The ongoing pandemic continues to provide challenges from a fixturing perspective and we thank everyone in the game for their understanding as we finalised the dates, times and locations for each match of Round 16,” AFL Executive General Manager Clubs and Broadcasting Travis Auld said.
"Next round sees Essendon heading down the highway to play at GMHBA Stadium for Premiership points for the first time since 1993, Robert Harvey coaching Collingwood against his former side in St Kilda where he was a champion player and hopefully many supporters witnessing Shaun Burgoyne playing in his 400th AFL game.
“It is great to be able to take a big match up to regional Victoria and we encourage footy fans from all around the state to head to Geelong and support the contest between the Swans and the Eagles at GMHBA Stadium.
“On behalf of the AFL we thank the Victorian State Government for their continued support of footy and the 2021 Toyota AFL Premiership Season.”
Round 16
Thursday, July 1
Gold Coast v Richmond at Metricon Stadium, 7.20pm AEST
Friday, July 2
Geelong v Essendon at GMHBA Stadium, 7.50pm AEST
Saturday, July 3
Melbourne v GWS Giants at the MCG, 1.45pm AEST
Adelaide v Brisbane at Adelaide Oval, 4.05pm ACST
Hawthorn v Port Adelaide at Marvel Stadium, 7.40pm AEST
Fremantle v Carlton at Optus Stadium, 5.40pm AWST
Sunday, July 4
Sydney v West Coast at GMHBA Stadium, 1.10pm AEST
Collingwood v St Kilda at the MCG, 3.20pm AEST
Western Bulldogs v North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium, 4.40pm AEST