GEELONG will play Collingwood, Essendon and Fremantle in their three NAB Challenge pre-season matches next season.

The Cats will open their NAB Challenge campaign by hosting Collingwood in a Friday night game at Simonds Stadium.

A week later they will travel to Shepparton in north-east Victoria to take on Essendon in a Saturday afternoon game at Deakin Reserve.

The clash with the Bombers will be the first clash to take place under the ‘Country Game’ banner, which the two clubs have created to celebrate all that is great about regional Australia.

The Country Game concept will see Geelong and Essendon playing a pre-season game in regional Victoria on an annual basis.

Geelong’s final NAB Challenge game involves a tough road-trip to Perth to take on Fremantle at Domain Stadium on a Saturday afternoon.

THE CATS’ NAB CHALLENGE FIXTURE

Match 1: Friday, 26 February: Geelong Cats vs. Collingwood Simonds Stadium 7:10pm EDT

Match 2: Saturday, 5 March: Essendon vs. Geelong Cats Shepparton 2:05pm EDT

Match 3: Saturday, 12 March: Fremantle vs. Geelong Cats Domain Stadium 1:10pm WST