AN MCG home match to start the season, a Friday night clash against Richmond and the traditional Queen’s Birthday blockbuster against Collingwood are among Melbourne’s 2015 premiership season fixture highlights.
Melbourne will open its campaign against the Gold Coast Suns at the MCG on Saturday, April 4, 1.10pm.
It will play seven of its opening 10 rounds at the MCG and six games at the ‘G from rounds 15 to 21.
Overall, it will play 17 matches in Victoria, including 13 at the MCG, three at Etihad Stadium and one at Simonds Stadium.
The Demons will also play five interstate matches at TIO Stadium and TIO Traeger Park (Northern Territory), Adelaide Oval (South Australia), Patersons Stadium (Western Australia), StarTrack Oval (Australian Capital Territory).
Melbourne will play Collingwood, Fremantle, Greater Western Sydney, St Kilda and Western Bulldogs twice, with Freo the only 2014 finalist it will meet a couple of times. The last club the Demons will play for the first time in 2015 will be Carlton at the MCG in round 21.
Chief executive Peter Jackson said: “The fixture is reflective of where we are at as a club.”
Looking at Melbourne’s fixture from a venue perspective, it could be broken up into five blocks.
From rounds one to three, the Demons will play at three different grounds: the MCG (Gold Coast), StarTrack Oval (GWS) and Adelaide Oval (Adelaide Crows).
Melbourne will then play five consecutive matches at the MCG from rounds four to eight, with three of them home games. But from rounds four to seven, Melbourne will play four 2014 finalists: Richmond, Fremantle, Sydney Swans and Hawthorn. Round eight is against the Western Bulldogs.
Two Northern Territory matches will bookend the period from rounds nine to 14, when Melbourne plays Port Adelaide at TIO Traeger Park in round nine and then it hosts the West Coast Eagles at TIO Stadium in round 14. During that period, Melbourne will take on Collingwood in its traditional Queen’s Birthday clash at the MCG in round 10. The Demons will then play St Kilda in round 11 at Etihad Stadium and Geelong Cats at Simonds Stadium in round 12. In round 13, the Demons will have a bye.
From rounds 15 to 19, Melbourne will be back at the MCG, playing another five games in a row at the home of football against Essendon, Brisbane Lions, St Kilda, Collingwood and North Melbourne respectively.
Melbourne’s last four home and away matches of the season will include two matches at Etihad Stadium (against the Western Bulldogs in round 20 and GWS in round 23), MCG (against Carlton in round 21) and Patersons Stadium (against Fremantle in round 22).
In terms of timeslots, the Demons will play 16 day games, two twilight matches and three at night.
A further breakdown sees Melbourne play matches on Friday (one night), Saturday (seven afternoon and two night), Sunday (three early, five afternoon and two twilight) and Monday (one afternoon). The round 23 match has yet to be confirmed.
Foxtel will show 14 Melbourne matches, Seven will televise seven games and round 23 is to be confirmed.
In regards to some membership details, Melbourne’s replacement home games for its two NT matches are to be confirmed. This will be announced in the coming days.
At each of these two games, all members will be able to scan their cards to access these games. Arrangements for seating and any member functions will also be confirmed in due course.
The club’s home and away members will have access to 16 games in Melbourne in 2015. Round 12 against Geelong at Simonds Stadium – from a membership ticketing point of view – do not provide access to this game. Tickets in a Melbourne designated seating area will be available for purchase.
New South Wales and ACT based members will have access to tickets to Melbourne’s round two clash against GWS in Canberra as part of its membership ticketing entitlements.
For Melbourne’s home game against the Giants in round 23 at Etihad Stadium, seating arrangements will be communicated in due course after discussions with the stadium. The club is looking for a solution for all members for this game.
