Football: Favourable start, tough run home. The Swans should fly out of the blocks with matches against Greater Western Sydney, Fremantle at home and Port Adelaide in rounds one, two and three. But they face Carlton, Collingwood, the Western Bulldogs away, Hawthorn and Geelong away in the last five rounds. Elsewhere, the Swans can be satisfied with only one trip to Perth, and just five six-day breaks. They'll face the Giants, Hawthorn, the Cats, St Kilda and the Bulldogs twice.

Business: The eyes of the footy world will be on the Swans when they open the 2012 season against cross-town rivals Greater Western Sydney a week before everyone else starts. Also have big home games against Geelong on a Friday night and Collingwood on a Saturday night, plus a return derby against the Giants in round 14. Nine games at the SCG is one more than last season, and three of those are Saturday twilight games, a timeslot that should appeal to visiting fans. The Cats game is their only Friday night match, but they'll bob up on six Saturday nights. And for the Melbourne-based fans, there are six matches in Victoria. 

Big game: Cross-town derbies aside, the round 13 SCG clash with Geelong should be a ripper. The Swans upset the Cats at the previously impenetrable Skilled Stadium fortress in 2011, and they'll be desperate to do it again on a Friday night in front of a parochial home crowd and big TV audience.

To download a pdf version of the 2012 fixture, click here.
RDDATEOPPONENTVENUEH/A LOCAL TIME
1Saturday, March 24 GWS GIANTSANZ StadiumAway7:20pm
2Saturday, April 7 FremantleSCGHome2:10pm
3Saturday, April 14 Port AdelaideAAMI StadiumAway1:40pm
4Sunday, April 22 North MelbourneSCGHome3:15pm
5Sunday, April 29 HawthornAurora StadiumAway1:10pm
6Saturday, May 5 Adelaide CrowsSCGHome7:40pm
7Saturday, May 12 RichmondMCGAway4:40pm
8Saturday, May 19 MelbourneSCGHome4:40pm
9Saturday, May 26 St. KildaEtihad StadiumAway4:40pm
10Sunday, June 3 Western BulldogsSCGHome3:15pm
11Saturday, June 9 EssendonEtihad StadiumAway7:40pm
12Bye    
13Friday, June 22 Geelong CatsSCGHome7:50pm
14Saturday, June 30 GWS GIANTSANZ StadiumHome7:40pm
15Saturday, July 7 Brisbane LionsSCGHome4:40pm
16Sunday, July 15 West Coast EaglesPatersons StadiumAway2:40pm
17Sunday, July 22 St. KildaSCGHome1:10pm
18Saturday, July 28 Gold Coast SUNSMetricon StadiumAway7:40pm
19Sunday, August 5 CarltonEtihad StadiumAway3:15pm
20Saturday, August 11 CollingwoodANZ StadiumHome7:40pm
21Sunday, August 19 Western BulldogsEtihad StadiumAway3:15pm
22Saturday, August 25 HawthornSCGHome4:40pm
23TBCGeelong CatsSimonds StadiumAwayTBC


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