2022 AFL Fixture: Season to kick-off with Victorian footy festival
The fixture has been revealed for the 2022 AFL season, with all Victorian teams to start the season in Melbourne, while AFL will return to Stadium Australia for the first time in more than five years.
The round one announcement last week coincided with the release of the final round of the AFLW fixture, revealing 12 matches in 10 days to be played in Victoria across the men’s and women’s competitions.
The 2022 AFL season will commence at the MCG on Wednesday March 16 with a rematch of the 2021 Grand Final between Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs, while in the weekend prior, all 14 AFLW teams will play their matches in Victoria.
The MCG, Marvel Stadium, GMHBA Stadium, Victoria Park, Arden Street Oval, Casey Fields, RSEA Park, Punt Road Oval, and Mars Stadium will all host matches across the 10 day period.
With five blockbuster games over five days at the MCG and Marvel Stadium, it’ll be the first time since round 20 in the 2016 season that all 10 Victorian AFL teams have played in their home state in the same round.
With the season starting a night earlier than normal, in which the Demons will unfurl their premiership flag on a Wednesday night, the traditional season-opener between Carlton and Richmond has been bumped, but will retain its Thursday night timeslot. The Saints will then host Collingwood at Marvel Stadium on Friday night.
March 16 will mark the first time an AFL games has been played in front of a crowd in Melbourne since July 11 this year, when just under 30,000 fans watched Collingwood beat Richmond.
Rounds 1-9 have been locked in with dates and times, with rounds 10 through to 23 to be announced during the 2022 season.
In a first, three Friday night double-headers have been scheduled in the opening nine rounds, with some matches being played at the same time.
In Round three, Essendon take on Melbourne at the MCG, followed an hour later by the first Friday night showdown at Adelaide Oval between the Crows and Port.
The following week, North Melbourne will played the Western Bulldogs at 4:20pm on Good Friday, followed by the West Coast Eagles against the Sydney Swans at Optus Stadium. Then in Round 8, Port Adelaide will take on Western Bulldogs at Adelaide Oval before Fremantle tackle North Melbourne in Perth.
For the first time since 2020, the AFL will return to the Northern Territory for three matches, with the Suns hosting the Hawthorn and North Melbourne at TIO Stadium, before Melbourne hosts Port Adelaide at Traeger Park in Alice Springs.
Meanwhile in Sydney, the AFL will return to the newly branded Accor Stadium (formerly Stadium Australia) for the first time since 2016, with the Giants hosting the Swans. The same two teams met in a semi-final in front of 60,000 fans in the last game at the Olympic stadium.
2022 AFL FIXTURE – Round 1 (all times AEDT)
Wednesday, March 16
Melbourne v Western Bulldogs – MCG, 7.10pm
Thursday, March 17
Carlton v Richmond – MCG, 7:25pm
Friday, March 18
St Kilda v Collingwood – Marvel Stadium, 7:50pm
Saturday, March 19
Geelong Cats v Essendon – MCG, 2.10pm
GWS Giants v Sydney Swans – Accor Stadium, 5.10pm
Brisbane Lions v Port Adelaide – The Gabba, 8:10pm
Sunday, March 20
Hawthorn v North Melbourne – MCG, 1.10pm
Adelaide Crows v Fremantle – Adelaide Oval, 3.40pm
West Coast Eagles v Gold Coast Suns – Optus Stadium, 7.40pm
The release of round 10 of the AFLW fixture completes the schedule for the 2022 women’s season, with the season to kick-off under lights at SkyBus Stadium in Frankston between St Kilda and Richmond. RSEA Park is unavailable for most of the season due to renovation works, with the Saints moving games to Frankston and Sandringham’s Trevor Barker Beach Oval.
The traditional season-opener between Carlton and Collingwood has been moved to Sunday due to the redevelopment of Ikon Park meaning night games cannot be played there this season.
Matches will be played across 25 stadiums during the 2022 AFLW season. As well as Frankston and Sandringham, other first-time venue include Henson Park, the Maroochydore Multisports Complex and Fankhauser Reserve.
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AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan said, “The footy festival will bring people together and to be able to give all Victorians and footy fans from regional Victoria and interstate an opportunity to come to a game and see their AFLW and AFL teams across a 10-day period is a significant step bouncing back from a challenging year.”
“We want to get big crowds back to the footy, the weekly ritual of being able to go to a game and the sense of community it creates, connecting families and friends is something we have missed in the state,”
“We look forward to seeing fans return to our venues in huge numbers as well as to all the surrounding business and venues that rely on footy and big events being staged across the city,
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“To finish our NAB AFLW season in Victoria and have these matches possibly determine final placings is huge, and then launch the biggest start to an AFL season ever, including our first ever Wednesday night season opener is going to give us a lot of momentum for the season ahead,
“Footy can hopefully help bring the heartbeat of the city back to Melbourne and back to the state of Victoria.”
Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events Martin Pakula said, “This festival will celebrate the best of the AFLW and AFL in the home of football, cementing our standing as the nation’s events and sporting capital.”
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