Carlton to play Adelaide, Port Adelaide to play St Kilda in South Australia

Carlton will open Gather Round against Adelaide next year as the AFL resisted the temptation to kick off the annual festival of football with a grudge match.

It’s the second time the Blues have opened Gather Round against the Crows, having done so the first time the round was played in 2023. In that encounter, the Crows thrashed Carlton by 56 points after a blistering opening quarter.

The league could have opened with Izak Rankine playing against Collingwood for the first time since he was suspended for a homophobic slur when playing the Magpies last season, and missed the finals.

In 2025, they scheduled Hawthorn to play Port Adelaide in the final game of the South Australian round after the controversial end to their 2024 semi-final when Power coach Ken Hinkley sledged Hawks forward Jack Ginnivan on the ground after the siren.

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However, this season Port Adelaide will play the Saints at Adelaide Oval in the final match of the round, which has become one of the most anticipated weekends of the year.

St Kilda’s Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera will be a focus of the build-up after he resisted a huge offer to play with Port Adelaide in 2026 and opted to stick with the Saints for two more seasons.

The Western Bulldogs have also announced they won’t play two games at Mars Stadium in Ballarat in 2026 while the venue is being redeveloped. They will play two games in Ballarat in 2027 and 2028.

More to come

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