Essendon Football Club will open the JLT Community Series against traditional rivals Collingwood in a Thursday night clash at Etihad Stadium on February 16.
The match, which is only ten weeks away, will provide Bomber fans with the opportunity to see some of the Club’s returning players and exciting new recruits run out together for the first time.
The Club will then travel to the tropical North Queensland city of Mackay to play the Gold Coast Suns on Sunday February 26th at 3.40pm.
With a fortnight's rest under their belts, the team will visit regional Victoria to play Geelong in Bendigo on Sunday the 12th March at Queen Elizabeth Oval at 4.10pm. The game is key fixture in the Powercor Country Game Program.
In a plus, Essendon members with match entitlements will receive free entry to all three JLT Community Series matches. Members can scan their membership card for free entry (subject to capacity), upgrade their membership to a reserved seat or register for a ticket in order to guarantee their entry (subject to availability, upgrade fees may be applicable).
General Manager of Football, Rob Kerr, said the Club was pleased with the pre-season fixture.
“We think the pre-season fixture ticks a number of important boxes and I’m confident we’ll have a really strong turn out from all our members and supporters at all three games, especially our first game against the pies on February 16,” Kerr said.
“From a team performance perspective we face quality opposition in Collingwood, Gold Coast and Geelong and the games will provide us with an opportunity to fine tune our starting line-up as we prepare for the opening round of the premiership season.
“Woosha believes the schedule which includes different towns and different states will benefit the development of our playing group.
“We believe strongly that performance should not be affected by travel, venue, time of game or crowd size, and we will challenge the selected teams to perform at their elite best in all games as part of our overall preparation for the 2017 season.”
