Football: Challenging. Two matches against each of Geelong, Collingwood, West Coast and the Sydney Swans, and play last year's wooden spooner Gold Coast and new club Greater Western Sydney only once. Also have seven six-day breaks (on the high end of the scale), with three of those back-to-back (the most of any club). On the plus side, a good run home sees the Hawks leaving Melbourne only twice in their last 10 games, and they only have three interstate travels outside of their home games in Tasmania. They also have two matches against Port Adelaide.

Business: Monster opening with a Friday night home game against Collingwood, followed by an Easter Monday showdown with Geelong. All up, the Hawks have five Friday night games, all against Victorian clubs. They're on free to air TV 12 times, which puts them in the upper-middle bracket with Richmond and St Kilda. Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon and Geelong all have at least 15 free to air games. There are five MCG home games against non-Victorian clubs, which might be more than the club would have hoped for, and the round 18 away clash with Essendon at Etihad Stadium will see Hawks fans struggling to get in. The 'Tasmanian Derby' versus North Melbourne was against the club's wishes, but should ensure a strong attendance at Aurora Stadium.

Big game(s): After losing to Geelong and Collingwood a combined five times out of five in 2011, the opening two rounds of 2012 will provide an immediate test of where Hawthorn is at.

To download a pdf version of the 2012 fixture, click here.
RDDATEOPPONENTVENUEH/A LOCAL TIME
1Friday, March 30 CollingwoodMCGHome7:50pm
2Monday, April 9 Geelong CatsMCGAway3:10pm
3Sunday, April 15 Adelaide CrowsMCGHome3:15pm
4Saturday, April 21 West Coast EaglesPatersons StadiumAway5:40pm
5Sunday, April 29 Sydney SwansAurora StadiumHome1:10pm
6Saturday, May 5 St. KildaMCGAway7:40pm
7Friday, May 11 MelbourneMCGAway7:50pm
8Saturday, May 19 FremantleAurora StadiumHome2:10pm
9Saturday, May 26 RichmondMCGAway1:45pm
10Saturday, June 2 North MelbourneAurora StadiumHome2:10pm
11Sunday, June 10 Port AdelaideAAMI StadiumAway4:10pm
12Sunday, June 17 Brisbane LionsMCGHome1:10pm
13Bye    
14Friday, June 29 CarltonMCGAway7:50pm
15Sunday, July 8 GWS GIANTSMCGHome1:10pm
16Sunday, July 15 Western BulldogsEtihad StadiumAway3:15pm
17Saturday, July 21 CollingwoodMCGAway1:45pm
18Friday, July 27 EssendonEtihad StadiumAway7:50pm
19Friday, August 3 Geelong CatsMCGHome7:50pm
20Sunday, August 12 Port AdelaideAurora StadiumHome1:10pm
21Sunday, August 19 Gold Coast SUNSMCGHome4:40pm
22Saturday, August 25 Sydney SwansSCGAway4:40pm
23TBCWest Coast EaglesMCGHomeTBC


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