2010 AFL Schedule

Collingwood and Melbourne are the big winners in the 2010 AFL fixtures which feature flexible scheduling for the final round of the season as well as extra games on Mondays and Thursdays.

For the third year in a row, the 2010 season will kick off on Thursday March 25 with a night match at the MCG between Richmond and Carlton. Blues' fans won't have long to wait until their side comes up against former spearhead and new Brisbane recruit Brendan Fevola with the two teams clashing in the Round 2 Thursday night fixture.

There will be one extra Thursday night game in 2010 when Carlton hosts Brisbane at Etihad Stadium on July 1. The Blues will clash with reigning premiers Geelong at the MCG on the Monday after Anzac Day in Round 5. They will also play against St Kilda in the season's only Monday night game at Etihad Stadium in Round 7.

All teams except the Sydney Swans will play at least one match on a Thursday or Friday night, with a focus on the high-performing and most improved teams from the 2009 season.

AFL Chief Operating Officer Gillon McLachlan said last year's Monday night experiment had worked well and the AFL was keen to continue with "a heavy emphasis on big game fixturing" rather than on theme rounds. Only the Indigenous Round, featuring the annual Dreamtime at the G game between Essendon and Richmond, has been retained.

For the first time, a "floating" Round 22 will provide the league with greater flexibility when planning for Finals. All matches and venues have been locked in for the final home and away round with the times to be determined later in the season by the AFL.

While overseas codes such as the NFL have floating fixtures, McLachlan said Round 22 was the only round that the AFL could vary. "I can't make the point clearly enough - this has nothing to do with broadcast pressure and is not a precursor to the future," he said. "We have to give the best possible chance for everyone starting in the finals. This is what this is about."

There will be three matches on Anzac Day (April 25), which falls on a Sunday. The traditional Essendon-Collingwood clash will be played at the MCG, the Hawthorn-North Melbourne match in Launceston and Fremantle will host Richmond in a night game at Subiaco Oval.

2009 Grand Finalists Geelong and St Kilda will not play until Round 13 on Friday, June 25 because the AFL has dropped its recent policy of a first round Grand Final rematch.

McLachlan said the 2009 Hawthorn-Geelong rematch did not receive the attention the AFL had hoped so it would delay this year's equivalent to build anticipation. "We are deliberately trying to create an event in the middle of the year ... everyone knows the two epic games they played in 2009," he said. "There will be a build-up and a sense of anticipation and hype around this game that we don't think we'd get early in the year, that's the reason and the rationale."

McLachlan said the League had deliberately concentrated on creating extra blockbuster games more so than an even fixture. "By being incredibly strict (in the past) around the rules around trying to create football fairness, I believe we've missed some opportunities to actually create the big games," he said. "It's a fair point to say we've looked this year, while not walking away from having football fairness, we've worked very hard at having big games and these big fixtures that our fans and our supporters love."

Once again teams are not required to play each other once by Round 15, with Hawthorn and Fremantle, Carlton and Adelaide, and Essendon and Brisbane all squaring off in Round 21 for the only time in the 2010 home and away season. Last season's bottom team Melbourne plays Collingwood twice in the first 12 rounds, while Geelong and the Western Bulldogs meet only once, in Round 20.

Collingwood is a big beneficiary of the schedule, scoring 14 games at the MCG and playing their first seven games of the year in Victoria. The Pies will be on the road four times between Rounds 8 and 15 when they play Fremantle, Brisbane, the Swans and Port Adelaide interstate. They will finish the season with seven games in a row at the MCG. Nineteen of the Pies' matches will be shown on free to air TV in Melbourne and are certain to generate huge ratings if the team has a good season.

Only Essendon has fewer interstate trips than Collingwood, with the Bombers playing West Coast at Subiaco Oval in Round 3, the Sydney Swans at the SCG in Round 11 and Adelaide at AAMI Stadium in Round 14.

Melbourne is the other big winner from the schedule, receiving an extra MCG game next season for a total of 14, with its first five games and seven out of the first eight at their home venue.

Two games will be played in Darwin for the first time, with Port Adelaide drawn as the away team against Melbourne in Round 9 and the Bulldogs in Round 16.

For the first time since the Crows and the Power entered the competition, their showdown clash will be held on a Saturday afternoon on May 1 with the return match a twilight game on Sunday July 25.

McLachlan said working to achieve an equitable draw across 22 rounds was always a challenge but the AFL was confident it had produced a fixture to please all its stakeholders.

"The fixture cannot be fully even when sides do not play each other twice but it is our aim for all clubs to start the season with the best opportunity to qualify to reach the finals," McLachlan said. "The software programming we use (from Canada) enables us to deliver an outstanding result in terms of an equitable football draw - across the travel load for clubs, breaks between games, match-ups between finalists and non-finalists from the 2009 year and the mix of home and away games in different slots - while marrying that with the AFL's key goals of maximizing our attendances at games and on television."

Other key points of the fixture include:

* Carlton is scheduled to play Brisbane twice to maintain the focus on Coleman medallist Brendan Fevola's move from the Blues to the Lions. Similarly, Sydney and the Western Bulldogs meet twice, in Canberra and at the SCG, after former Swans Premiership co-captain Barry Hall's off-season move to the Dogs.
* AAMI Stadium will host consecutive Friday night matches in Rounds 15 and 16 for the first time in AFL history. The venue will also host three Adelaide home games and two Power home games.
* Fremantle will start and finish the season at home and will host a Friday night blockbuster against Collingwood. The Dockers will travel to Etihad Stadium six times but have not been scheduled to play at the MCG or Skilled Stadium.
* West Coast will travel in both Round 1 and Round 22.
* Subiaco Oval will host four Saturday afternoon matches, two each involving Fremantle and West Coast, with the earlier start of 1.10pm local time (3.10pm AEST) to fit with the TV schedule on the east coast of Australia.
* Only ten of St Kilda's 22 games are against teams in the top eight from last year. Four of their first five games are against teams who missed the finals this year.
* Geelong have been dealt 11 games against the top eight from this year and five of their first seven are against non-finalists. The Cats will not play at Skilled Stadium until Round 4 when they will unveil the 2009 premiership pennant.
* The Western Bulldogs receive a manageable 11 games against last year's top eight and six of their first seven in Melbourne. They play 14 games at Etihad Stadium and five Friday night fixtures.
* Essendon play a total of 12 matches against 2009's top seven sides and will face each of the top four teams twice.
* Hawthorn will play 12 games at the MCG and four games in Tasmania, one more than during the 2009 season.
* Richmond will play eight home games at the MCG and three home games at Etihad Stadium.
* The Brisbane Lions have welcomed a challenging 2010 draw which will see them play four of 2009's top eight sides twice.
* Sydney will play one less game at ANZ Stadium next year, but will play four Saturday afternoon games at the SCG.

Sources: afl.com.au, Herald Sun, The Age, Adelaide Advertiser, Perth Sunday Times