Adelaide and Port Adelaide will launch the second Gather Round with a pair of huge primetime games.
News Corp reports the full fixture for Round 4, which will be played entirely in Adelaide and its surrounds, will be announced on Sunday by AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon and South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas.
Games will again be hosted at Adelaide Oval, Norwood Oval and Mount Barker from Thursday April 4 to Sunday April 7, after the success of the inaugural edition in 2023 which saw 60,000 fans flock from interstate and a combined 220,000 fans attend across the round.
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The Crows will host Melbourne at Adelaide Oval on Thursday night to launch the 2024 edition of Gather Round, just as they did against Carlton in 2023.
But the Power have been moved to the Friday night slot where they’ll host Essendon, again at Adelaide Oval.
The highly-anticipated clash comes after the pair were locked in trade talks right until the deadline, eventually swapping Xavier Duursma and Brandon Zerk-Thatcher.
Having the South Australian sides play standalone fixtures may help the AFL avoid the problem seen on the Saturday of the last Gather Round, where there were plenty of empty seats for one half of the double-header, before Power fans showed up for their side’s clash that night.
The Crows are expected to be given a number of juicy primetime fixtures to make up for the late-season blunder against Sydney where a behind was incorrectly awarded, allowing the Swans to win and eventually play finals in Adelaide’s place.
It’s expected Adelaide will host a Friday night game in Round 2 against a big Victorian club.
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