Essendon will clash with West Coast at Subiaco Oval in the opening game of the 2010 NAB Cup.
 
The game will be held at 5:40pm (local time) on Friday, 12th February and will be broadcast on Ch7.
 
The winner of that game will meet either Adelaide or Port on Thursday, 25th February at Etihad Stadium.
See below for the full 2010 NAB Cup Fixture.
 
Blacktown Olympic Park, the future home of Team GWS that will join the competition in 2012 as the AFL’s 18th side, will host its first senior AFL match next year as part of the 2010 NAB Cup.

At a media conference in Melbourne today, AFL Football Operations Manager Adrian Anderson detailed the fixture for the 2010 NAB Cup, which will begin on the weekend of February 12, 2010.

Blacktown Olympic Park, which hosted matches in this year’s NAB AFL Under 16s Championships, will now host a showcase round one game on Saturday February 20 between the Sydney Swans and Carlton, to be broadcast nationally on Network Ten.

The NAB Cup fixture also features matches across the country with games to be played in Canberra and Launceston outside the traditional capital cities, while NAB Regional Challenge matches will be taken to venues that don’t normally host AFL football. As part of the NAB Challenge, a match will be played in Yea in country Victoria to support those areas devastated by this year’s bushfires.

Mr Anderson said the NAB Cup competition will open the AFL season on Friday February 12 with four round one matches to be played on each of the opening two weekends, leading up to the grand final to be played on Saturday March 13.

“Fixturing the Sydney Swans and Carlton at our new facility at Blacktown Olympic Park is a major step towards bringing elite AFL football to the greater West of Sydney,” Mr Anderson said.

“The introduction of Blacktown as an AFL pre-season venue allows the Sydney Swans to play a round one NAB Cup match in their home state, rather than again being to forced to travel while our various venues that host cricket (the SCG, the Gabba and the MCG) are unavailable in our pre-season,” he said. The full fixture for the 2010 NAB Cup is detailed below.

National Australia Bank’s General Manager of Community and Corporate Responsibility, Tim O’Leary, said NAB was delighted that the NAB Cup and NAB Challenge would again extend to reach many Australian communities.

“We are particularly pleased to see a match scheduled for Yea. This will no doubt be important to all levels of the local football community after the devastating bushfires that struck country Victoria in early 2009,” Mr O’Leary said.

“The ability to take the AFL to thousands of people around the country who don’t often get a chance to experience the footy is one of the three features of the competition most significant to NAB.

“The second is innovation; testing new rules, new arrangements and new approaches to the game. And thirdly, realising potential; young players testing themselves at the elite level. We believe these unique attributes make the NAB Cup an important part of the competition,” he said.

All matches in the 2010 NAB Cup will be broadcast by one of the AFL’s television partner – the Seven Network, Network Ten and Fox Sports, while the AFL has been able to schedule around the summer tour by AC/DC and cricket commitments for a number of venues.

The venue for the 2010 NAB Cup Grand Final will be at the discretion of the AFL, to maximise the match attendance and the viewing audience,as per what occurred for the 2009 Final.
 
ROUND 1 – February 12-21
  • 12/02 - West Coast vs Essendon - Subiaco (5:40pm)
  • 13/02 - Adelaide vs Port Adelaide - AAMI (4:40pm)
  • 13/02 - Hawthorn vs Richmond - Aurora (7:40pm)
  • 14/02 - Western Bulldogs vs Bris Lions - Manuka Oval (4:40pm)
  • 19/02 - St Kilda vs Collingwood - Etihad (7:40pm)
  • 20/02 - Sydney Swans vs Carlton - Blacktown (7:40pm)
  • 21/02 - Geelong Cats vs North Melbourne - Etihad (4:40pm)
  • 21/02 - Fremantle vs Melbourne - Subiaco (5:40pm)

ROUND 2 – February 25-28

  • 25 or 27/02 - WCE/Ess vs Adel/Port - Etihad/Subiaco (7:10 pm or 5:40pm)
  • 26/02 - Haw/Rich vs Bull/Bris - Etihad (7:40pm)
  • 27/02 - Stk/Coll vs Syd/Carl - Etihad (7:10pm)
  • 28/02 - Geel/Nth Melb vs Freo/Melb - Etihad (4:40pm)

ROUND 3 – March 5-6

  • 5/03 - WCE/Ess/Adel/Port vs Haw/Rich/Bull/Bris - Etihad/AAMI (7:40pm)
  • 26/02 - Stk/Coll/Syd/Carl vs Geel/Nth Melb/Freo/Melb - Etihad (7:40pm)

GRAND FINAL – March 13

  • 5/03 - Winner of RD 3 Match 1 vs Winner of RD 3 Match 2 - tba (7:40pm)