Fixture 2026 Fixture

[fpm84]

Suns away in opening round - challenging way to start a season.




Full Fixture:

 

[Scorpio]

Suns away in opening round - challenging way to start a season.

View attachment 2472265

Replacing our usual loss to them up there in pre-season

 

[Gyno79]

If playing in the stupid opening round means we get an extra bye then could be OK. As long as there aren't cyclones again . Gold Coast with petracca in QLD, sounds pretty tough.

 

[Footy Smarts]

Is it wrong to hope for another cyclone to avoid this round 0 BS?

 

[Sticksman]

This is the ideal time to play GCS away. Coming off a solid preseason is a better prospect than playing them off a six day break or similar.

 

[Catman]

At least it's not in Darwin off a six day break...

 

[Hamingja]

This is the ideal time to play GCS away. Coming off a solid preseason is a better prospect than playing them off a six day break or similar.

Not when the team you are playing has a 3 week head start on you and will be desperate to stamp their credentials for the season

 

[Sticksman]

Not when the team you are playing has a 3 week head start on you and will be desperate to stamp their credentials for the season

That's the price you pay for remaining deep in the finals race.

 

[jim boy]

That's the price you pay for remaining deep in the finals race.

Just as well we decided to take that last weekend of the finals off.

 

[Footy_Fan2007]

And the team that won the flag get a home game against team that didn’t play finals.

 

[STPer18]

Oh no, are they really trying this whole flOpening Round garbage again?

 

[goyoucatters]

I figure they'll be absolutely storming out of the blocks and we'll probably take our time to get some momentum going. So a win in this game would be a massively impressive result.

Most of all, I'm just hoping that avoiding playing them in Darwin this time means that our percentage might survive without taking a decent hit. It seems we really are the AFL's lackeys for providing the sizzle, that's for sure.

 

[andoman21]

Are we the only club that trains full time on the ground we play on?

 

[cats_09]

Are we the only club that trains full time on the ground we play on?

I'm pretty sure we're the only club who trains on the ground we call home but we don't exclusively train at KP

Until Christmas we have pre-season training out at Deakin, and that can happen at times during the season also if KP is booked for other uses

 

[cats_09]

Happy April Fools Day

The AFL has introduced a wildcard round for next season in a major shake-up to its finals format.

The Herald Sun can reveal the league will effectively move from a top-eight to a top-10 when the 2026 AFL fixture is released on Thursday.

On the weekend normally reserved for the pre-finals bye, seventh will host 10th and eighth will play ninth, while the top-six teams will have the weekend off.

The winners of the two wildcard games will progress as part of a steeper five-week passage to the premiership for the teams who finish seventh and eighth.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/wildcard-weekend-confirmed-as-afl-shakes-up-finals-format/news-story/de6482a8b4b020b7ed23ae3b078e6b62

 

[fpm84]

Happy April Fools Day

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/wildcard-weekend-confirmed-as-afl-shakes-up-finals-format/news-story/de6482a8b4b020b7ed23ae3b078e6b62

Dillon is the worst CEO in the league’s history.

He’s gotta go before he runs our favourite sport into the ground.

 

[standupand]

Happy April Fools Day

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/wildcard-weekend-confirmed-as-afl-shakes-up-finals-format/news-story/de6482a8b4b020b7ed23ae3b078e6b62

Omg this competition is the dumbest competition on earth. Home and away games are meaningless now. I hope we treat this system with the disdain it deserves, and then unleash hell on the competition for the 6 or 7 weeks or whatever it takes to win.

 

[Scorpio]

I really don’t see the need to get worked up about it. It’s 2 extra games of footy

 

[cats_09]

I really don’t see the need to get worked up about it. It’s 2 extra games of footy

Two decisions this week that really make no sense:

- The idea of "Opening Round" was to have the eyes of the AFL world on the 4 northern state teams, with 4 matches held across Sydney, GC & Brisbane

Next year's "Opening Round" will now feature more than half the league, including St Kilda vs Collingwood because the AFL is determined to have Collingwood play in the opening round but they refused to travel for t


- We're an 18 team comp and from need year it'll essentially be 10 teams playing finals; that's a mockery of finals when more than half the teams in the comp are playing on team and makes them seem more of a participation award than something earnt


There was things broken with the AFL system, but neither of these two decisions help improve those issues

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Two decisions this week that really make no sense:

- The idea of "Opening Round" was to have the eyes of the AFL world on the 4 northern state teams, with 4 matches held across Sydney, GC & Brisbane

Next year's "Opening Round" will now feature more than half the league, including St Kilda vs Collingwood because the AFL is determined to have Collingwood play in the opening round but they refused to travel for t


- We're an 18 team comp and from need year it'll essentially be 10 teams playing finals; that's a mockery of finals when more than half the teams in the comp are playing on team and makes them seem more of a participation award than something earnt


There was things broken with the AFL system, but neither of these two decisions help improve those issues

I will continue to dedend OR so long as it keeps Richmond/Carlton away from opening the season. One good game and a bazillion false starts

 

[cats_09]

I will continue to dedend OR so long as it keeps Richmond/Carlton away from opening the season. One good game and a bazillion false starts

Don't forget that the AFL still try refer to that as the first game of the season due to being the first game of round 1

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Don't forget that the AFL still try refer to that as the first game of the season due to being the first game of round 1

Whatever logical absurdities come of it it's worth the outcome

 

[Biggy_Boy]

Don't forget that the AFL still try refer to that as the first game of the season due to being the first game of round 1

They can't even call it the first game in Melbourne anymore. I wonder how Tigers fans feel about that. Carlton get a tune up before them as well.

 

[cats_09]

They can't even call it the first game in Melbourne anymore. I wonder how Tigers fans feel about that. Carlton get a tune up before them as well.

And I'm pretty sure that St Kilda vs Collingwood is going to be scheduled at the MCG meaning they'd also lose that last tiny thing they could hold onto to give any meaningful significance to Richmond/Carlton

 

[Baudolino]

Happy April Fools Day

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/wildcard-weekend-confirmed-as-afl-shakes-up-finals-format/news-story/de6482a8b4b020b7ed23ae3b078e6b62

This is a disgrace. I'm usually an AFL HQ apologist and think that fans go too fan in their criticism of the league's leaders, but this is the worst change that's ever been brought in.

10 out of 18 teams making finals is indefensible.