The Cats will welcome Fremantle, Gold Coast, North Melbourne, Melbourne, Western Bulldogs, Brisbane, Sydney and Adelaide down to Simonds Stadium.
Geelong will play Adelaide, Collingwood, Hawthorn, North Melbourne and Sydney twice over the 22 round season.
Cats CEO Brian Cook felt on balance the fixture was a winner for Geelong.
“Overall we are very happy with the fixture,” Cook said. “It’s always a challenge for the AFL to satisfy clubs, but with eight games here at Simonds Stadium for the first time since 2009 and a good spread of day and night games throughout the fixture, is definitely a win for our members and supporters.
“In an ideal world we would host all 11 home games at Simonds Stadium, but we understand the need to take some games that will draw huge crowds to a venue such as the MCG. We are also pleased to have attractive games at the MCG against Hawthorn and Collingwood, and as we saw last season, our clash with Carlton at Etihad is sure to be a close battle.
“Playing home games at Simonds Stadium is important to our supporters and we all should recognise that that the AFL has indeed listened to the footy supporter in fashioning this fixture. We have more day games than last season, which is a good outcome, but would have liked at least a couple of more night matches to take advantage of the lights that were installed in 2013.
“In addition to our supporters wanting to see us play on our home ground, games at Simonds Stadium are important for the local economy. With an extra game in the city it will translate into around $4-million in additional activity in and around Geelong. This is important to the club and the community.
“While there is no better experience than being at a Geelong game, we are also pleased that our supporters that cannot attend will see at least 17 games on Channel Seven and every game live on Fox Footy. Both broadcasters do a great job of bringing footy to our supporters.”
Fixture highlights
· The Cats open the season against Hawthorn (away) in the traditional Easter Monday showdown
· Geelong’s first game at Simonds Stadium for 2015 will see the rivalry with Fremantle continue in round two
· Tom Hawkins (147 games) could reach the 150 plateau when Gary Ablett and the Suns head to Simonds Stadium in week three of the season
· Tom Lonergan’s 150th (currently 145 games) could be reached in round 5 against Richmond
· Corey Enright is on line to become just the third Cats’ player to reach 300 games. If he plays every game from the start of the season he will reach the milestone in round 12 against Melbourne
· Joel Selwood (184 games) could play his 200th against GWS in Canberra in round 17, while Steve Johnson’s 250th (currently 233) could occur when Allen Christensen returns to face his former home ground in round 18
· Travis Varcoe and his new Collingwood team mates will play Geelong twice at the MCG, facing off in round six and 22.
· Geelong has home games against three of last season’s top four: Sydney, North Melbourne, and Hawthorn
· Buddy Franklin will play at Simonds Stadium for the first time when the Swans visit in round 19
· New Cats Mitch Clark (from Melbourne) and Rhys Stanley (from St Kilda) will match up with their former clubs in round 12 & 21 respectively
RD | DAY | DATE | OPPONENT | VENUE | HOME/ AWAY | TIME | TV |
1 | Monday | 6th April | Hawthorn | MCG | Away | 3:20pm | Ch 7 |
2 | Sunday | 12th April | Fremantle | Simonds | Home | 1:10pm | Fox Footy |
3 | Sunday | 19th April | Gold Coast | Simonds | Home | 3:20pm | Ch 7 |
4 | Sunday | 26th April | Nth Melb | Simonds | Home | 3:20pm | Ch 7 |
5 | Saturday | 2nd May | Richmond | MCG | Away | 1:45pm | Ch 7 |
6 | Friday | 8th May | Collingwood | MCG | Away | 7:50pm | Ch 7 |
7 | Saturday | 16th May | Sydney | ANZ Stad | Away | 7:20pm | Ch 7 |
8 | Friday | 22nd May | Carlton | Etihad | Home | 7:50pm | Ch 7 |
9 | Sunday | 31st May | West Coast | Paterson Stadium | Away | 2:40pm | Fox Footy |
10 | Saturday | 6th June | Essendon | Etihad | Away | 7:20pm | Ch 7 |
11 | Friday | 12th June | Port Adel | Adelaide Oval | Away | 7:20pm | Ch 7 |
12 | Sunday | 21st June | Melbourne | Simonds | Home | 3:20pm | Fox Footy |
13 | BYE |
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14 | Sunday | 5th July | Adelaide | Adelaide Oval | Away | 2:50pm | Ch 7 |
15 | Saturday | 11th July | North Melb | Etihad | Away | 7:20pm | Ch 7 |
16 | Saturday | 18th July | Western Bulldogs | Simonds | Home | 1:45pm | Ch 7 |
17 | Saturday | 25th July | GWS | StarTrack Oval | Away | 1:45pm | Ch 7 |
18 | Saturday | 1st August | Brisbane | Simonds | Home | 1:45pm | Ch 7 |
19 | Saturday | 8th August | Sydney | Simonds | Home | 7:20pm | Fox Footy |
20 | Saturday | 15th August | Hawthorn | MCG | home | 7:20pm | Ch 7 |
21 | Saturday | 22nd August | St Kilda | Etihad | Away | 7:20pm | Ch 7 |
22 | Friday | 28th August | Collingwood | MCG | Home | 7:50pm | Ch 7 |
23 | TBD | TBD | Adelaide | Simonds | Home | TBD | TBD |
