NORTH Melbourne has been granted its wish to play two Melbourne-based clubs in Hobart next season.
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The club last night confirmed Richmond and St Kilda were among the three teams (up from two in the Roos’ previous three years in the Tasmanian capital) scheduled to play at Bellerive Oval
The Tigers will visit in round 6 on Saturday, May 9, and the Saints in round 20 on Saturday, August 15.
West Coast will also play at the venue in round 10 on Sunday, June 7.
It will be the second appearance at Bellerive Oval for the Eagles and St Kilda, and the first for Richmond.
St Kilda and West Coast have had mixed fortunes in Hobart, with the Saints kicking the lowest score in the club’s short AFL history [3.15] in round 17 this year, while the Eagles won a two-point epic in round 15, 2012.
Richmond will feature in a home and away match in Tasmania for the first time since playing in front of a record crowd of 20,971 in round 12, 2006 at Launceston’s Aurora Stadium, a game it lost by 41 points.
‘‘Richmond is one of the biggest clubs in the league, and for this game to be scheduled at Blundstone Arena highlights the impact North Melbourne and the AFL is having within the city of Hobart,’’ North chief executive Carl Dilena said last night.
‘‘The club has been working extremely hard with key stakeholders to bring exciting AFL content to Tasmania. The Hobart fixture for 2015 delivers on that aim.’’
The Tigers are coming off the back of a year which saw them win their last nine games to qualify for the finals, with West Coast just missing out on September and St Kilda collected the wooden spoon.
These fixtures, released last night by North Melbourne ahead of the AFL’s official announcement this morning, means that three of the seven home and away matches played in Tasmania next year will be all-Melbourne affairs.
Hawthorn will host the Western Bulldogs in round 3 at Aurora, on top of matches against Gold Coast in round 9, Fremantle in round 15 and Brisbane in round 22.
There will be back-to-back matches in the state, with the Hawks versus Suns match to be played the weekend before the Roos versus Eagles encounter.
Powerhouse Collingwood will also visit Launceston in February to open the pre-season NAB Challenge series against the two-time reigning premier Hawthorn.
