Cats get great draw, with more night games

GEELONG’S night games are back, after the AFL controversially left the Simonds Stadium lights off for much of the 2015 season.
The Cats will host two Friday night matches among a total of four night games and two twilight games for the 2016 season.
The Friday night home games are against Sydney in round 16 and Western Bulldogs in round 19.
Geelong has eight Simonds Stadium games facing Brisbane, Gold Coast, West Coast, Greater Western Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne.
The Cats will make five interstate trips to Greater Western Sydney at Canberra, Brisbane at the Gabba, Adelaide and Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval and Fremantle at Domain Stadium.
The Cats will meet Adelaide, the Western Bulldogs, Greater Western Sydney, Essendon and the Brisbane Lions twice.
Teams Geelong faces only once are Hawthorn, Collingwood, Port Adelaide, Gold Coast, West Coast, Carlton, North Melbourne, St Kilda, Sydney, Richmond, Fremantle and Melbourne.
The Cats’ bye is in round 15.
Chief executive Brian Cook said he was happy with the fixture.
“It’s always a challenge for the AFL to satisfy clubs, but eight games here at Simonds Stadium and a good spread of day and night games throughout the fixture is definitely a win for our members and supporters.
“In an ideal world, we would host all 11 home games at Simonds Stadium, but we understand this is not possible.
“We will seek a ninth home game at Simonds Stadium once the fourth stage of the redevelopment is completed.
“We would prefer to play our Melbourne home games at the MCG and will continue to push this issue with the AFL.”
Geelong’s 2016 fixture:
Round 1: v Hawthorn (home) – Monday, March 28, MCG, 3.20pm
Round 2: v Greater Western Sydney (away) – Sunday, April 3, StarTrack Oval Canberra, 1.10pm
Round 3: v Brisbane Lions (home) – Sunday, April 10, Simonds Stadium, 4.40pm
Round 4: v Essendon (away) – Saturday, April 16, MCG, 1.45pm
Round 5: v Port Adelaide (away) – Saturday, April 23, Adelaide Oval, 7.10pm
Round 6: v Gold Coast (home) – Saturday, April 30, Simonds Stadium, 7.25pm
Round 7: v West Coast (home) – Saturday, May 7, Simonds Stadium, 2.10pm
Round 8: v Adelaide (away) – Friday, May 13, Adelaide Oval, 7.20pm
Round 9: v Collingwood (away) – Saturday, May 21, MCG, 1.45pm
Round 10: v Carlton (away) – Sunday, May 29, Etihad Stadium, 1.10pm
Round 11: v Greater Western Sydney (home) – Saturday, June 4, Simonds Stadium, 4.35pm
Round 12: v North Melbourne (home) – Saturday, June 11, Etihad Stadium, 7.25pm
Round 13: v Western Bulldogs (away) – Saturday, June 18, Etihad Stadium, 7.25pm
Round 14: v St Kilda (away) – Saturday, June 25, Etihad Stadium, 7.25pm
Round 15: Bye
Round 16: v Sydney Swans (home) – Friday, July 8, Simonds Stadium, 7.50pm
Round 17: v Fremantle (away) – Friday, July 15, Domain Stadium, 6.10pm
Round 18: v Adelaide (home) – Saturday, July 23, Simonds Stadium, 7.25pm
Round 19: v Western Bulldogs (home) – Friday, July 29, Simonds Stadium, 7.50pm
Round 20: v Essendon (home) – Sunday, August 7, Etihad Stadium, 3.20pm
Round 21: v Richmond (away) – Sunday, August 14, MCG, 3.20pm
Round 22: v Brisbane Lions (away) – Sunday, August 21, Gabba, 3.20pm
Round 23: v Melbourne (home) – TBC