Cats to tackle Lions in opener
Pre-season blockbuster
PREMIERS Geelong are set to kick off their official pre-season with a mouth-watering clash against the Brisbane side they destroyed in a 71-point preliminary final victory.
The AFL released its official pre-season fixture for the first week of March this week, having scheduled only one weekend of games to cater for its expanded home-and-away season.
The official practice games have been declared free by the AFL and will kick off with three Thursday contests on March 2.
Hawthorn will host Collingwood in Tasmania, with Fremantle hosting Port Adelaide at Fremantle Oval ahead of the Lions-Cats game.
On Friday St Kilda will host Essendon at RSEA Park ahead of a Sydney-Carlton game at Blacktown in western Sydney then a West Coast v Adelaide clash in West Australia.
On Saturday the Giants host the Gold Coast Suns at Blackdown Sports Park, the Western Bulldogs host North Melbourne at Ikon Park and Melbourne takes on Richmond at Casey Fields.
The league has scheduled the Gather Round in Adelaide in round 5 as a 23rd game for every team so clubs have only an informal scratch match and the official round across March 2-4.
As revealed on Tuesday, Brisbane takes on Geelong on March 2 in a Thursday night game which will also be the first men’s AFL game at Springfield’s Brighton Homes Arena.
Brisbane could roll out No.1 overall draft pick Will Ashcroft, star recruit Josh Dunkley and free agent forward Jack Gunston for that clash as well as Irish defender Conor McKenna. With clubs being given only one official pre-season game there is a greater likelihood they will play teams close to their full-strength round 1 line-ups.
Geelong coasted to the 2022 premiership after a narrow sixpoint qualifying final victory over Collingwood, beating Brisbane by 71 points in the preliminary final and Sydney by 81 points in the Grand Final.
The Cats are in ideal shape to push deep into the season again with star forward Tom Hawkins their only real injury concern leading into the season.
Hawkins had foot surgery after the season and while he has started running again the Cats are hopeful if he misses round 1 he will not be delayed until too deep into the season.
Geelong’s medical and conditioning team is happy with Hawkins’ progress but will only know closer to round 1 how much his season will be delayed.
The Lions are stacked with talent, having also brought in St Kilda’s Darragh Joyce and Essendon’s Conor McKenna to add depth to their side.
16 of the AFL’s 18 clubs will play match simulation games in the last week of February, but the Western Bulldogs and GWS declined the chance to take part in a second game.