To be among the best, you have to beat the best.
That’s the message from Crows CEO Andrew Fagan following Thursday’s release of the 2016 AFL Premiership Fixture.
The Crows play three of this year’s top four teams twice (North Melbourne, Fremantle and West Coast) with other double ups against Port Adelaide and early finals fancies Geelong.
Adelaide faces six 2015 finalists through the opening seven opening rounds – bar a Round Two Showdown against the Power - and has two trips to Perth to cap off a demanding schedule on paper for Don Pyke’s first season as Crows coach.
“That’s a challenge that we embrace,” Fagan said.
“I think we all understand how these draws are constructed. If you finish in the top six in the competition, you expect that you’re going to play more teams from the top half from the year prior.”
The League’s fixture model assures the top, middle and bottom six clubs of last season play the majority of their games against similarly ranked sides.
“It’s something that I’d like to face every single season, because it means that we’re finishing in the top six in the competition every year,” Fagan said.
“That’s what we’re here to do. It’s a challenge that’s going to be embraced by the players and by the coaching staff.
“I think it’s foolish for us to sit here and try and predict the outcomes of 23 rounds of football. I’m not sure anyone’s done that particularly successfully sitting in October of the year prior to a season.”
Showdown start to home schedule
Adelaide’s strong 2015 season has also seen the Club rewarded with a number of premier timeslots and feature matches.
The Crows will compete in 12 night games next year – up from just four in Season 2015. Adelaide will host a Thursday night blockbuster for the third year in a row, as well as a Friday night clash with Geelong in Round Eight.
The newly renamed Indigenous Round, now known as Sir Doug Nicholls Round, looms as another big-ticket item for the Club in 2016.
Adelaide will also kick off Anzac Round on Friday, April 22 against three-time reigning premiers Hawthorn.
“It doesn’t get much bigger than that,” Fagan said.
“I think that there’s some wonderful wins for us in the fixture, and I think it’s significant recognition for the improvement the team’s made and the style of football they played throughout 2015.
“From a members and supporters’ point of view, our key requests have been met. We’ve got quality opposition both home and away. We’ve got a mix of timeslots and, importantly, some of those that were really important to us.
“For our Melbourne supporters it’s particularly good. We’ve got seven games in Victoria, six in Melbourne and three at the MCG.
“It’s a really healthy draw for the supporters of the Adelaide Football Club and it certainly supports our commercial platform as well.
“We had the vast majority of our requests fulfilled. We completely embrace the challenge that’s presented in the draw. We welcome it.
“I think it’s an outstanding result for our footy club.”
