2026 Fixture

[Anythings_sipposible]

With a bye leading in. Could be a three week camp! Jack Higgins loves this.

We'd risk losing Higgo to an e-sports team if that were the case

 

[gringo2011]

Get in the 8 by our round 16 bye and we genuinely have a chance at top 4 with the run home.

Could easily go 6-2 (that’s conservative.) only really bloody hard game is Geelong on their dung heap.

Collingwood- win
Melbourne- win
GWS 50/50
Brisbane-loss
Port win or 50/50
Adelaide- loss
West Coast-win
Carlton-win
GCS-Loss or 50/50
Richmond-win
Freo- loss
Hawks- 50/50
Sydney- 50/50
GWS-win
Dogs-loss
Essendon-win
Port- win
Cats-loss
North-win
Sydney- win
Carlton-win
GCS-win

Got sat 12 wins with another 5 coin tosses. 16 wins got top 4 last season.

 

[austinnn]

Collingwood- win
Melbourne- win
GWS 50/50
Brisbane-loss
Port win or 50/50
Adelaide- loss
West Coast-win
Carlton-win
GCS-Loss or 50/50
Richmond-win
Freo- loss
Hawks- 50/50
Sydney- 50/50
GWS-win
Dogs-loss
Essendon-win
Port- win
Cats-loss
North-win
Sydney- win
Carlton-win
GCS-win

Got sat 12 wins with another 5 coin tosses. 16 wins got top 4 last season.

With all the advances we've made in the off-season and this fixture, an optimistic prediction is a season very much like the 2025 Adelaide season.

I can't see us shitting the bed in 2026, barring systemic failure and/or an injury crisis, or barring half the clubs in the AFL getting exponentially better.

Even if we set ourselves up for a straight sets exit in the finals, to be honest I would be relatively happy with 2 finals and a lot of learning going into the 2027 season

 

[Sarcoidevo]

As with every season .... no matter what fixture .... injuries will play a big role

Bout time we had a change of luck in that sphere

 

[TassieSaint]

I feel like the Port double up is a potential stitch up, they could have a dead cat bounce under a new coach. Still have a very talented midfield.

 

[austinnn]

Also worth noting that our second game will be against the Dees with new Coach Steven King

Steven King

Age

47

Ht

201cm

Wt

104kg

Pos.

Ruck

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.8

3star

K

7.9

3star

HB

4.9

4star

CL

1.3

3star

HO

16.8

5star

No current season stats available

D

11.8

3star

K

6.4

3star

HB

5.4

4star

HO

8.8

5star

and gun recruits Jack Steele

9

Jack Steele

Age

29

Ht

187cm

Wt

90kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

20.9

5star

K

8.7

3star

HB

12.2

5star

M

3.7

4star

T

6.8

5star

CL

3.6

5star

D

21.3

5star

K

10.0

4star

HB

11.3

5star

M

4.0

4star

T

5.8

5star

CL

4.6

5star

D

16.8

4star

K

5.0

2star

HB

11.8

5star

M

2.6

3star

T

6.4

5star

CL

3.6

5star

, Max Heath and Brody MicCheckOneTwo, but sans serial idiot Clayton Olver and global brand Pertacca TM.

Not only will it be their home game but also their first game of the season, and after the double humiliation we served them last year, you will bet they will be licking their lips to make this a big game. They might even fancy their chances!

Can someone remind me why there is this dumb Opening Round fixture where only some teams play, and games played ledger is lopsided until round 6?

 

[Parkysp]

My only "What The" out of our fixture is the timing of the Brisbane game in round 3. When you look at the other games that day why not ours at night? Millions of eyeballs on Boxshall running through the square to kick a goal outside 50 on a Saturday night against Brisbane to invoke memories of 20 years ago.

They set the balls up and then squiffed the shot. Why?

 

[CHBench]

Apparently Round 3 vs Brisbane and Round 8 vs Carlton are double headers at Marvel - possibly (if at all?) more relevant in Round 8 where we'll be playing the 2nd match

 

[gringo2011]

As with every season .... no matter what fixture .... injuries will play a big role

Bout time we had a change of luck in that sphere

They always do but we have really fattened out the list now. If Flanders replaces Steele we are still TDK, JSOS and Ryan ahead.

Ryan in for Butler. TDK frees up Marshall as a spare. JSOS fills a Battle sized hole and we likely get Butler, King, Henry, Howard and Dow back with several guys like Phillipou, Wilson, Garcia, Tauru, Travaglia pushing up.

 

[Enclosed_Animal]

Well that fixture is better than expected, and certainly better than the last few years. My take is the fate of our season gets decided in June.

Essentially I look at this at 3 blocks of games.

Block 1
First 8 games are great exposure. Yes we travel 4 times, but one is West Coast. And while the double header in Adelaide is tough, we were going there anyway for gather round. We get Brisbane and Adelaide in this stretch, so not expecting miracles.

Split the games in Adelaide and get out of the first block 5-3 and I am happy. 4-4 is okay

Block 2
This 7-game stretch is where our season is decided.

3 games in the first 14 days spread across Perth, Darwin and Melbourne (Freo in Perth off a 5 day break).

Then 4 games against damn good teams (Hawks, Swans, Giants and Dogs). That’s a tough month heading into our bye. Dogs / Swans usually bully us, and Giants / Hawks games have been coin flips the last few years. There is a genuine world where we go 2-5 or 1-6 in this stretch.

If we hit our bye at 6-9 or 5-10, then the season looks exactly the same as the last few years.

However, if we can hit our bye with a winning record (8-7 or even 9-6) then look out.

Block 3
Last 8 games post bye are all in Melbourne. 4 games against likely bottom 4 teams. We should come home like a freight train!! So if we hit our bye with a winning record, we are a real shot at top 4. Top 6 is our floor.


But it all comes down to how we handle the travel in late May, and not falling in a hole with a very tough June. That month is gonna be a grind, and comes of the back of 3 games in 14 days in all corners of the country. We go 2-2 or better in June then I get very very excited!!

Overall, this fixture means it is up to us. Top 4 is there for the taking if we are good enough. But we have to keep our head above water in the middle of the year

 

[BrutThough]

Apparently Round 3 vs Brisbane and Round 8 vs Carlton are double headers at Marvel - possibly (if at all?) more relevant in Round 8 where we'll be playing the 2nd match

Brilliant of the AFL to do a double header for the Carlton game when we got 65k to the match up last year and instead leave the MCG empty all day.

 

[Joffaboy]

Fox Footy difficulty rating.

 

[karnaby]

One point from a quick look at this is that there are similarities for us with the last 2 seasons, in that we might come home strongly but....
But - with a wild card round ( much and all as I'd be hoping to be a lot higher on the ladder) we might still be a chance of being competitive if we did end up 9th or 10th.
If that was our lot, I'd hope that we could then make the most of a new found opportunity.

 

[mad-saint-guy]

Another way of digesting the fixture.

Carlton x 2
Richmond x 2
North
West coast
Melbourne
Essendon

That should be 8 wins there.

Collingwood
Sydney X 2
Port X 2
Suns X 2
Giants X 2

Win 5 of those at a minimum and that’s atleast 13 wins.

Leaves:

Brisbane (H)
Dogs (H)
Hawks (H)
Cats (A)
Adelaide (A)
Freo (A)

You might need 1 from here if you only win 5 from the middle lot.

Realistically we'll drop a couple that we should win and win a couple that we should drop. I'd say we get 6 wins from the first group, 4-5 from the second and 2 from the last. So around 12-13 wins, which would have us sneak into finals but we'd need to do a bit better to get into the top 6, which is the "real" finals now.

 

[snails13]

Realistically we'll drop a couple that we should win and win a couple that we should drop. I'd say we get 6 wins from the first group, 4-5 from the second and 2 from the last. So around 12-13 wins, which would have us sneak into finals but we'd need to do a bit better to get into the top 6, which is the "real" finals now.

Dont know what all the fuss is about.
Purple confident we will be Preliminary Finalists with our playing list

 

[gringo2011]

Fox Footy difficulty rating.

The easy double ups is a bit of a guess anyway. Playing the Dogs, Sydney, Carlton or Saints could look like a win but all could bounce. At some point North will become a competitive side too.

Remember last year Carlton was set up to win a flag off the back of the most ridiculously easy draw ever. Sides that play WCE, Melbourne, Richmond and Essendon twice likely get 2 wins from those matches.

 

[gringo2011]

Realistically we'll drop a couple that we should win and win a couple that we should drop. I'd say we get 6 wins from the first group, 4-5 from the second and 2 from the last. So around 12-13 wins, which would have us sneak into finals but we'd need to do a bit better to get into the top 6, which is the "real" finals now.

We need to have improved enough to take down sides around our level. Hawks, Sydney, Collingwood, Port, GWS, GC, Freo etc. We were outclassed by heaps by Dogs, Brisbane and Adelaide, Even with new recruits that might be too big a jump to expect us to take them down.

We might take time to get the cohesion right early too. We have made a lot of list changes so potentially we hit the second half of the season with some momentum.

 

[SainterinSydney]

 

[seasonedsainter]

Nah they’re better in Darwin

Maybe, but I’d still prefer to play them off their official home deck. Adds a random element to it all.

 

[seasonedsainter]

Lol this was quality too — especially rnd1 and rn4

 

[The Punter]

anyone know some good to stay for a family of 5... thinking of coming over for the pies game

Its Grand Prix weekend - nothing left that is affordable.

 

[bergholt]

Brilliant of the AFL to do a double header for the Carlton game when we got 65k to the match up last year and instead leave the MCG empty all day.

They own Docklands but not the MCG so they'll always try to utilise it more, and double headers are cheaper for them

 

[Winmar2Lockett]

It's a disappointing that our trip to Darwin is on Mothers Day Weekend.

Would have been great to head North for a Darwin stubby or two.

 

[stavro#4]

It's a disappointing that our trip to Darwin is on Mothers Day Weekend.

Would have been great to head North for a Darwin stubby or two.

Take the Women in your life with you?

 

[Winmar2Lockett]

Take the Women in your life with you?

Unfortunately Mum is not up to travelling these days.