A hellish draw for Pies, Cats
Fans get ready for 20 straight days of football
COLLINGWOOD and Geelong have been challenged with hellish Round 9-12 fixtures that will test their injured squads and premiership credentials.
Collingwood has been handed four games in 13 days and the Cats four matches in 14 days under the new schedule released on Tuesday night.
The AFL’s promised condensed fixture includes an incredible 20 straight days of football from July 29 to August 17.
The action-packed schedule includes mid-week doubleheaders on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
The AFL players’ union on Tuesday secured the lifting of a freeze on player contracts and a guarantee from the AFL that clubs would have only three four-day breaks in the homeand-away draw.
But Geelong’s 11-day break leading into Monday’s clash against Fremantle soon turns into the fixture from hell.
Geelong plays West Coast at Optus Stadium on Saturday, August 1; North Melbourne in Queensland on Wednesday, August 5, St Kilda at the Gabba on Monday, August 10 and Port Adelaide at the Gabba on Friday, August 14.
It means the Cats play a stacked schedule while Joel Selwood battles a two to threeweek hamstring injury and with Gary Ablett now likely to miss at least six matches after returning to Victoria to be with his family.
Collingwood plays Fremantle on August 2 (Optus Stadium), Sydney at the Gabba on August 6, Adelaide at Adelaide Oval on August 11 and Melbourne at the Gabba on August 15.
Collingwood has stars Jeremy Howe and Jordan de Goey battling injuries so their much-vaunted depth will be put to the test.
Brisbane, Collingwood, Geelong, Melbourne and North Melbourne have two four-day breaks each in this block while Adelaide, Essendon, Gold Coast, Port Adelaide, Richmond and St Kilda have one each.
The Tigers and Dogs kick off Round 9 at Metricon Stadium – Richmond having a fiveday break and the Western Bulldogs six days leading in from Round 8 contests.
In contrast to Geelong’s schedule, Richmond has a sixday break, then a four-day break before a Round 11 match against Port Adelaide, then an eight-day break before a clash against Gold Coast.
Geelong coach Chris Scott acknowledged the tough fixture but said the season was always likely to throw up unique challenges.
“In the normal context of a season it’s as high a degree of difficulty as you get, but in this season we have been forewarned and the flight adds another layer,’’ he told Fox Footy’s AFL360.