The heat will be on come Round 1 next season with the Roos set to take on the Suns in their opening game on March 24 in Cairns.
The AFL revealed the match-up will played under lights at Cazalys Stadium on Saturday night at 6.25pm AEST.
North will have a huge chance to start the year on a winning note, with Gold Coast playing without its superstar midfielder Gary Ablett Jnr on its list for the first time.
"We have never played in Cairns but we will be ready for the challenge," North GM of Football Cameron Joyce said.
"We'll have plenty of time to prepare for the likely hot and humid conditions, and hopefully we'll have some warm summer days in Melbourne in the lead up to help us acclimatise."
North played the Gold Coast on two occasions in 2017 for one win and one loss. The teams though, will be vastly different with a raft of big changes to both lineups.
"We hope as many of our supporters as possible can make the trip to support us," Joyce added.
Further round details will be unveiled throughout the week, before the complete fixture is released on Tuesday, October 31.
Key features
- Round 1 begins Thursday, March 22
- North to play at Blundstone Arena in Hobart three times
- Good Friday game on Friday, March 30
- Grand Final on Saturday, September 29
A standard round to include
- One Friday night match
- Two Saturday afternoon matches
- One Saturday twilight match
- Two Saturday night matches
- One early Sunday match
- One Sunday afternoon match One Sunday twilight match
