FOOTY is officially back this week with the first club v club hitouts of the year beginning on Thursday.
Sixteen of the 18 AFL clubs will take part in unofficial match simulations on either Thursday or Friday this week before all 18 teams will be involved in the official practice games on March 2-4.
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All of the unofficial match simulations will be live streamed on Kayo Sports and broadcast on Foxtel, while there will also be a free live blog on AFL.com.au and the AFL Live app this Friday for the six matches around the country, starting with North Melbourne v Richmond at 10am AEDT and going all the way through to West Coast v Port Adelaide at 7.40pm AEDT (4.40pm local).
A week later, there will be three official practice matches on each of Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with games to be played in five states around the country.
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These matches will also be live streamed on Kayo and broadcast on Foxtel with live scores and stats on AFL.com.au and the AFL Live app, while attendance is free.
All 18 clubs will then have a week off before the 2023 premiership season begins on Thursday March 16.
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The unofficial match simulations are organised between the clubs and their duration, number of players involved and number of breaks vary as they don't have to follow the standard AFL structure. As a result, there will be no live scores and stats from these matches.
The Western Bulldogs and Greater Western Sydney have opted to not take part in the match simulations with other clubs and will instead play intraclub games this weekend.
Teams for the match simulations will be announced by the clubs on the day prior to the match, while teams for the official practice games will be released at 5pm AEDT the day before the match.
Unofficial match simulations
Thursday, February 23
Geelong v Hawthorn, GMHBA Stadium, 4pm AEDT (8 x 30 min plus time on)
Gold Coast v Essendon, Austworld Centre Oval (Carrara), 4pm AEST (5pm AEDT), (6 x 25 min, no time on)
Friday, February 24
North Melbourne v Richmond, Arden St, 10am AEDT (4 x 25 mins, 2 x 20 mins, no time on)
Carlton v Collingwood, Ikon Park, 11am AEDT (4 x 25 min, no time on)
Sydney v Brisbane, Tramway Oval (Moore Park), 12pm AEDT (4 x 25 min, no time on)
St Kilda v Melbourne, RSEA Park, 4pm AEDT (6 x 25 min, no time on)
Fremantle v Adelaide, Victor George Kailis Oval (Cockburn), 3.30pm AWST (6.30pm AEDT), (6 x 25 min, no time on)
West Coast v Port Adelaide, Mineral Resources Park (Perth) 4.40pm AWST (7.40pm AEDT), (4 x 28 min, 2 x 20 min, no time on)
Official practice matches
Thursday, March 2
Hawthorn v Collingwood, UTAS Stadium, 5.10pm AEDT
Fremantle v Port Adelaide, Fremantle Oval, 4.10pm AWST (7.10pm AEDT)
Brisbane v Geelong, Brighton Homes Arena, 7.10pm AEST (8.10pm AEDT)
Friday, March 3
St Kilda v Essendon, RSEA Park, 4.10pm AEDT
Sydney v Carlton, Blacktown International Sports Park, 7.10pm AEDT
West Coast v Adelaide, Mineral Resources Park (Perth), 4.40pm AWST (7.40pm AEDT)
Saturday, March 4
GWS Giants v Gold Coast, Blacktown International Sports Park, 12.10pm AEDT
Western Bulldogs v North Melbourne, Ikon Park, 1.10pm AEDT
Melbourne v Richmond, Casey Fields, 4.10pm AEDT
All pre-season games will be live streamed on Kayo Sports and broadcast on Foxtel
