North Melbourne welcomed the release of the 2011 AFL season fixture this morning.

Chief Executive Eugene Arocca said the draw provided opportunities for a number of blockbuster games.

“Playing Collingwood in our first home game of the year is a fantastic result and is a strong incentive for our members to join up early and see us take on the reigning premiers,” Arocca said.

“We also have home games against Richmond (round 5) and Melbourne (round 8) early in the season so we can continue to build on our rivalries with those other young teams, and a Friday night blockbuster home game against Carlton in round 19.”

North will travel to Perth in rounds 1 (v Eagles) and 4 (v Fremantle) and will create a membership package to provide access to those games for our strong supporter base in WA.

Chief of Football Donald McDonald said the draw was a positive one from a football perspective.

“Our interstate travel is well spaced out through the year, we only have five six-day breaks between games and won’t travel for the last month of the season, so we are more than comfortable with the fixture,” McDonald said.

Click here to see the full fixture.

Let us know your thoughts on our 2011 fixture by leaving a comment below.