Tigers v Blues to kick off 2009
Caroline Wilson | October 8, 2008
TRADITIONAL rivals Richmond and Carlton look certain to again open the AFL season with the league expected to list the first 2009 game for Thursday night, March 26, at the MCG before the formula one Australian Grand Prix weekend.
A grand-final rematch between Hawthorn and Geelong has been scheduled to follow on the Friday night.
Richmond and Carlton, who drew a crowd of more than 72,000 to the 2008 season-opener held on the Thursday before Easter, appear to have won their battle to contest the debut match of 2009 with the Tigers having been tentatively promised home games at the MCG against the Blues, Collingwood and Essendon.
Collingwood and Geelong, who lobbied for the Easter Thursday fixture, seem almost certain to play each other at the MCG with the Easter break falling in round three.
The first round will go over four days due to Channel Ten's grand prix coverage.
The Magpies, along with Carlton and St Kilda, will feature on Friday nights at least six times each in the AFL's draft fixture, which possibly will be finalised next week.
Richmond, which has reached a deal with the AFL to join Carlton and St Kilda as the three home teams headed for the Gold Coast fixtures next season, is believed to have also been granted its wish for just two Telstra Dome home games, both against non-Victorian clubs.
Although the AFL coaches on Monday formalised their preference for a home-and-away season in which each club plays each other by round 15, the AFL is expected to follow the 2008 model, in which there were some bizarre examples of scheduling including eventual grand finalists Hawthorn and Geelong not playing each other until round 17.
The AFL is expected to point to the fact that 2008 attendances were a record and that the season can never be fair given the reality of 16 teams and 22 rounds.
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