Football: Lots for the Blues to be pleased about in 2012. Carlton plays only three of the 2011 finalists twice (Collingwood, St Kilda, Essendon) and does not face any weeks of consecutive travel for the season. The Blues play five matches outside Victoria, but nine of their last 10 in the run home to the finals are in Victoria. They open their season on a Thursday night away to Richmond at the MCG, then play the Lions at the Gabba on Easter Thursday and play again on a Thursday night away to West Coast in round 12. One game against each of Port Adelaide, Greater Western Sydney and Gold Coast and six six-day breaks between games.

Business: With the three Thursday and six Friday night games, the Blues will again be a prime-time draw in 2011. The home game against Hawthorn, which regularly sells out Etihad Stadium, has finally been moved to the MCG and will take place in round 14. All up, the Blues will play 15 night games. Home games against Collingwood, Essendon, Hawthorn, Geelong, Richmond and St Kilda are great for the club's bottom line. The Blues play eight games at the MCG (five as the home team) and nine at Etihad (six as the home side). They have 17 games on Channel Seven.

Big game: When you're Carlton, every game is big, but the Friday night game against Collingwood in round three will be massive. In the corresponding match last year, the Blues were handpicked by the Pies to be there as they unfurled their 2010 premiership flag. This time, the Blues will be the home team.

To download a pdf version of the 2012 fixture, click here.
RDDATEOPPONENTVENUEH/A LOCAL TIME
1Thursday, March 29 RichmondMCGAway7:40pm
2Thursday, April 5 Brisbane LionsGabbaAway7:40pm
3Friday, April 13 CollingwoodMCGHome7:50pm
4Saturday, April 21 EssendonMCGHome1:45pm
5Friday, April 27 FremantlePatersons StadiumAway6:40pm
6Sunday, May 6 GWS GIANTSEtihad StadiumHome1:10pm
7Monday, May 14 St. KildaEtihad StadiumAway7:40pm
8Sunday, May 20 Adelaide CrowsEtihad StadiumHome3:15pm
9Sunday, May 27 MelbourneMCGHome3:15pm
10Saturday, June 2 Port AdelaideAAMI StadiumAway7:10pm
11Friday, June 8 Geelong CatsEtihad StadiumHome7:50pm
12Thursday, June 14 West Coast EaglesPatersons StadiumAway5:40pm
13Bye    
14Friday, June 29 HawthornMCGHome7:50pm
15Friday, July 6 CollingwoodMCGAway7:50pm
16Friday, July 13 North MelbourneEtihad StadiumAway7:50pm
17Saturday, July 21 Western BulldogsEtihad StadiumAway7:40pm
18Saturday, July 28 RichmondMCGHome7:40pm
19Sunday, August 5 Sydney SwansEtihad StadiumHome3:15pm
20Saturday, August 11 Brisbane LionsEtihad StadiumHome7:40pm
21Saturday, August 18 EssendonMCGAway1:45pm
22Saturday, August 25 Gold Coast SUNSMetricon StadiumAway7:40pm
23TBCSt. KildaEtihad StadiumHomeTBC


The views in this article are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs