AFL Gather Round fixture: Fremantle face Hawthorn, West Coast take on Richmond

Fremantle will have Saturday night’s primetime Gather Round fixture slot as their first opportunity at revenge for last season’s finals loss against Hawthorn.

Chris Robinson

The West Australian

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1 hour ago

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The Dockers will take on Nick Watson’s Hawks at Gather Round next season. Credit: Janelle St Pierre/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

Fremantle will have Saturday night’s primetime Gather Round fixture slot as their first opportunity at revenge for last season’s finals loss against Hawthorn.

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The Dockers are locked into the 7.15pm time slot (5.45pm WA time) for the April 10 fixture at Adelaide Oval, which is one of the main drawcards of next year’s Gather Round slate.

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Freo suffered a 32-point loss to the Hawks in their qualifying final clash last month, with the Dockers stunned on their home deck by Nick Watson and co before being able to recover to reach the grand final.

Justin Longmuir’s side will be looking to continue a superb recent record at Adelaide Oval. Fremantle have won their past four matches at the SA venue, including back-to-back thrillers there in the space of a week last April, when they beat the Crows by two points and Collingwood by six points.

Matt Johnson kicked a key goal against Collingwood in last year’s Gather Round clash. Credit: Michael Willson/AFL Photos

It comes as West Coast at last drew an expected low-ranked opponent for Gather Round, with the Eagles hoping to overturn a horror history at the South Australia event when they take on Richmond.

Andrew McQualter’s side will again take to Norwood Oval, this time in the 4.05pm slot (2.35pm WA time) on the Saturday.

In the four previous instalments of Gather Round, the rebuilding Eagles have each time faced a club coming off a finals appearance the previous season. But this time, they get a Tigers side coming off a 17th-place finish as they attempt to win their first Gather Round match.

McQualter will be looking to flip the script on a 0-4 record against Richmond since becoming West Coast’s coach.

West Coast have lost four times to Richmond in the past two seasons. Credit: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

Adelaide and Brisbane will kick off Gather Round on the night of Thursday April 8, with the Crows to feature in the round-opening fixture for a fifth consecutive year. Collingwood and Sydney do battle in the Friday night match the following day.

The round concludes with Port Adelaide’s first look at departed star Zak Butters in a Sunday night fixture at Adelaide Oval in what is set to be an emotion-charged clash.

Next year’s Gather Round event will include a ‘Players’ Parade’ for the first time, with representatives from all clubs set to take part in the centre of Adelaide on the Friday.

AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon said he was again confident of huge crowd support for the weekend in South Australia, which takes place in the school holidays.

“We saw another terrific response from supporters in 2026 and we’re looking forward to welcoming fans from across the country back to South Australia in April,” he said.

Designated ‘home teams’ for the matches will be determined later this week, while the AFL is set to confirm its full 2027 fixture next month.