In senior coach Brendan McCartney’s first competitive outing at the helm, the Bulldogs will tackle the Giants and Pies at Blacktown International Sportspark in two pool matches in the competition’s opening round.
AFL Chief Operating Officer Gillon McLachlan revealed that all 18 clubs have matches fixtured for the opening three rounds of competition.
In rounds two and three, the Bulldogs have been drawn to play Carlton at Etihad Stadium on Sunday March 4 and North Melbourne at Eureka Stadium, Ballarat on Sunday March 11.
Each club will play two shortened matches in week one against their other two opponents, comprising two 20-minute halves (approximately) across a three-hour window for the three matches.
Clubs will then play full-scale matches in weeks two and three of the NAB Cup.
All matches across the three rounds (two shortened games and two full games) will count equally for four points and percentage, with the two best-performed teams over the opening three rounds to compete in the NAB Cup Grand Final on Saturday March 17.
The 16 other clubs will play NAB Cup matches that weekend across March 16-17 in various metropolitan cities across the country.
Mr McLachlan said FOXTEL, AUSTAR and FOX SPORTS would kick off the new AFL television rights deal for 2012-2016 by exclusively covering all of the matches in round 1 of the NAB Cup live and a minimum of five matches live in each of rounds two and three, all in High Definition and uninterrupted siren to siren, while the NAB Cup Grand Final would be broadcast live by both FOX SPORTS and the Seven Network.
In addition, with the AFL’s new media partnership with FOXTEL and Telstra, one match per round will be available live on Telstra T-Box services and all matches broadcast by FOX SPORTS will also be available live on Telstra mobile.
Earlier this year, the AFL and NAB announced a new five-year partnership and Mr McLachlan said the AFL was delighted the 2012 competition had been designed to better assist all clubs' preparation for the 2012 year.
"The introduction of our shortened games for the 2011 NAB Cup was a great success, with strong attendances for the three matches at each of our six venues, coupled with above-average viewer numbers across television," Mr McLachlan said.
"The shortened format enables clubs to use their senior players as they see fit for the opening to the season, as well as offering the flexibility to provide opportunities for new players and rookies that is such a key feature of the NAB Cup.
"In 2012, we have now fixtured each club's matches for both rounds two and three of the competition, so clubs are aware of their travel schedule and can fully plan their preparation and training workload as they build up to the start of the premiership season.
“In rounds two and three, we will mix matches across both regional venues and our major AFL venues, so that we continue to promote our game into areas that don't normally host AFL football.”
To view the Western Bulldogs' 2012 NAB Cup Fixture, please click here.
