New AFL fixture gives Bulldogs chance to shine
The Western Bulldogs will feature prominently on the big stage late in the AFL home and away season, given a strong hand of prime-time fixtures.
The Bulldogs, who sit sixth after nine rounds, have been rewarded for their impressive start to the year in the fixture for rounds 16-23, which was released by the AFL on Thursday.
Luke Beveridge's side have been dealt two Thursday and three Friday night matches across the eight rounds.
Carlton, Essendon and GWS - all firmly in the finals mix at this stage - each have four fixtures in the marquee slots.
Brisbane, Collingwood and Hawthorn have three each, while Melbourne and Richmond are the only clubs who have none.
There are three Friday night double-headers scheduled across the eight weeks; in rounds 17, 20 and 23.
"This back end of the season fixture is aimed at maximising momentum into the finals which is shaping up to be one of the tightest races in recent history," AFL scheduling boss Josh Bowler said.
"We are excited to schedule a number of Friday night double headers aimed at maximising prime-time audience whilst also managing team travel and breaks between games."
Thursday night football will be played every week across the eight rounds except for round 23, with August 14 left alone as clear air for the AFLW season opener.
Round 20 is littered with derbies as all non-Victorian clubs face off against their local rivals, starting with Sydney's Giants-Swans clash on a Friday night.
The schedule for round 24 will not be confirmed until later in the year.
One of the Bulldogs' Thursday night fixtures is North Melbourne's AFL/VFL centenary match at Marvel Stadium in round 17.
The celebration was originally scheduled for round 20 - when the Kangaroos host their first-ever VFL opponents Geelong - but was moved to allow it to be a standalone fixture.
The Bulldogs-Adelaide fixture in round 18 has been moved from Ballarat's Mars Stadium to the league-owned Marvel Stadium to allow for a bigger attendance.
Ongoing construction works at Mars Stadium have lowered the venue's capacity to about half the usual 11,000.
Only 4814 fans were inside the ground to see the Bulldogs' 90-point thrashing of Port Adelaide earlier this month.
Another Bulldogs match will be moved to Mars Stadium once the redevelopment is complete.
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