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The Pies will once again feature in a suite of prime time and blockbuster matches in 2026 after the coming season’s fixture was confirmed on Thursday
With six Thursday and Friday night matches scheduled for the first half of the season alongside all the usual blockbuster matchups, Pies fans will once again be treated to some mouth-watering clashes in 2026.
The league confirmed the full season fixture on Thursday, with opponents, and venues confirmed for all matches and dates and times to be confirmed for the remainder of games at the halfway point of the season.
Having already drawn St. Kilda and Fremantle as their Opening Round and Gather Round opponents respectively as announced earlier in the week, the Pies learned on Thursday how the rest of their season would pan out.
We break down all the key elements of the fixture below as the countdown begins to another blockbuster season.
View our full 2026 fixture here.
What’s the first month look like?
The all-important first month of the season will be a little different than the Pies have become accustomed to in recent seasons, starting off with an all-Victorian clash against the Saints to close out Opening Round.
The Pies will remain in Victoria the next week as they host their first game of the season in a rematch of the 2025 Qualifying Final against the Crows, with the Round 1 match-up schedule for Saturday night.
Their participation in Opening Round will see them enjoy a week-off in Round 2 as they observe a bye while the remainder of the league catches up, before they host the GWS Giants in Round 3 in one of two Marvel Stadium home games for the year.
How are Thursday and Friday nights looking?
Never strangers to the bright lights of prime time footy, the Pies will play six games on a Thursday or Friday night before Round 15, with more likely to come once the remaining dates and times are confirmed later in the season.
Four of those occur consecutively with the aforementioned Round 3 clash against the Giants starting things off on Friday 27 March, before the traditional Easter Thursday clash against reigning premiers Brisbane in Round 4, a Gather Round clash with Fremantle on the Friday night of Round 5, and a Thursday night blockbuster against Carlton in Round 6.
The Pies will return to the Thursday night stage in Round 8 for a mammoth clash with Hawthorn at the MCG, before travelling to Sydney a fortnight later for a Friday night fixture against the Swans.
Where are the Pies travelling in 2026?
The Pies will hit five interstate cities in 2026, headlined by trips to Brisbane (Round 4) and Adelaide (Round 5) consecutively early in the season.
That Adelaide trip is as part of Gather Round with Fremantle the Pies opponent, however they return to the city of churches in Round 20 to take on the native Adelaide Crows.
The Pies will also be in Sydney to take on the Swans (Round 10), Gold Coast (Round 17) and Perth to play the Eagles (Round 22) throughout the season.
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Who do the Pies play twice?
The Pies will face six teams twice in 2026.
Adelaide (Rounds 1 & 20), Brisbane (Rounds 4 & 24), Geelong (Rounds 9 & 21), Hawthorn (Rounds 8 & 23), Carlton (Rounds 6 & 19) and West Coast (Rounds 11 & 22) are the double ups.
Where can I watch in 2026?
Of the 14 matches will all details confirmed so far, nine of those are scheduled on free-to-air broadcaster Channel 7.
The five games scheduled for Fox Footy include Round 1 against Adelaide, Round 9 against Geelong, Rounds 11 and 12 against West Coast and the Western Bulldogs, and Round 15 against Port Adelaide.
Sync all the details to your calendar!
By clicking here, you can link all the fixture details to your 2026 calendar!
