{"id":269000,"date":"2025-11-07T14:57:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T14:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/269000\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T14:57:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T14:57:13","slug":"opening-round-fixture-charlie-curnows-swans-to-face-blues-in-afl-season-opener-brisbane-host-western-bulldogs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/269000\/","title":{"rendered":"Opening Round fixture: Charlie Curnow\u2019s Swans to face Blues in AFL season opener, Brisbane host Western Bulldogs"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Sydney<\/a> superstar Charlie Curnow will square off against his former side Carlton<\/a> in the first match of the 2026 AFL<\/a> season.<\/p>\n

7NEWS chief AFL<\/a> reporter Mitch Cleary has revealed the five matches that will take place in the Opening Round.<\/p>\n

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Details of AFL\u2019s Opening Round revealed.<\/p>\n

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today \"Download<\/a><\/p>\n

The Swans and Blues will kick off the new season on Thursday, March 5 in an SCG blockbuster that will see Curnow take on his former teammates for the first time.<\/p>\n

Curnow secured a move to the Swans in the final hour before the trade deadline last month, while experienced Swans Will Hayward and Ollie Florent ended up at the Blues.<\/p>\n

It sets the scene for an explosive season opener, which will be live and free on Seven and 7plus Sport<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"OllieOllie Florent and Will Hayward will take on former side Sydney in the Opening Round. Credit: Carlton FC<\/p>\n

It gives Carlton a seven-day break into the traditional Round 1 blockbuster against Richmond the following Thursday night.<\/p>\n

Next year\u2019s Opening Round will be expanded to five matches, with Collingwood and St Kilda doing battle in a Sunday night blockbuster.<\/p>\n

Pending fitness, it will be the first time fans see star recruits Tom De Koning, Sam Flanders, Jack Silvagni and Liam Ryan run out in the red, white and black.<\/p>\n

The Magpies had previously requested not to travel in the Opening Round after doing so the past two seasons, while the new-look Saints get to host the blockbuster clash on Labor Day eve.<\/p>\n

The March 8 game will also be the earliest the MCG has hosted an AFL match since 2000 when the season was brought forward due to the Sydney Olympics.<\/p>\n

The other three matches of Opening Round will be held in the northern states with times and days still to be confirmed.<\/p>\n

Premiers Brisbane will unfurl their flag ahead of home clash against the Western Bulldogs, which could also see new Lions Sam Draper and Oscar Allen make their club debuts.<\/p>\n

GWS and Hawthorn will do battle in a rematch of this year\u2019s thrilling elimination final. It will also mark Clayron Oliver\u2019s first game in orange after departing Melbourne in the trade period.<\/p>\n

The final clash will see Gold Coast and superstar recruit Christian Petracca host Geelong in another blockbuster tussle.<\/p>\n

Opening Round – March 5-8<\/p>\n

Sydney v Carlton at the SCG<\/p>\n

GWS Giants v Hawthorn at Engie Stadium<\/p>\n

Gold Coast v Geelong at People First Stadium<\/p>\n

Brisbane v Western Bulldogs at the Gabba<\/p>\n

St Kilda v Collingwood at the MCG<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

AFL legend hints at very exciting Harley Reid news<\/p>\n

2 min read<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

New Port coach explains move for retired AFL star<\/p>\n

4 min read<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Sydney superstar Charlie Curnow will square off against his former side Carlton in the first match of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":269001,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,3239,588,85,7200],"class_list":{"0":"post-269000","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-carlton-blues","14":"tag-sport","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-sydney-swans"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}