Today the AFL have announced the fixture for the 2026 VFL season for the 21 Round season – excluding start times and venues from Rounds 14-21.
Southport’s VFL campaign begins on the road, facing off against Richmond at Kinetic Stadium in Frankston, on Saturday 21 March at 11:05 am AEST.
Round 2 will also see the Sharks play away, this time closer to home against the Lions at Brighton Homes Arena on Saturday 28 March at 11:05 am.
Easter weekend marks the first of Southport’s games at Fankhauser Reserve. In a blockbuster weekend, the Sharks and the Gold Coast Suns play off in the fifth annual Doc Mackenzie Cup on Saturday 4 April at 12:05 pm.
On Saturday May 2, Southport will host last year’s Grand Final rematch against Footscray in Round 6.
Round 8 will mark a historic milestone for the club, travelling to take on the Tasmania Devils for the very first time. The game will be played at North Hobart Oval on Saturday, 16 May at 2:35 pm.
Coburg, Port Melbourne, Sydney and Geelong make up the other clubs set to visit Fankhauser Reserve during the first 13 rounds of the season.
The layout of the 2026 season remains the same, consisting of 21 rounds with every team playing 18 matches including three byes.
The best of the VFL and SANFL will battle it out again in 2026, with a representative double-header locked in at Glenelg’s Stratarama Stadium during Gather Round.
The 2026 State Games will feature as part of South Australia’s annual week of football festivities, with both women’s and men’s State Games to be held on Saturday, April 11.
The 2026 VFL finals series will be held over five weeks. Wildcard Round will be played on August 22-23 with the Grand Final scheduled for Sunday September 20.
“We are pretty excited to get into it this year” Southport Sharks General Manager of Football Operations, Jarrod Field said.
“We’re really happy with our 2026 fixture. We have some challenging road trips including our first ever game in Tassie.
“We will have a very different looking team this season and we can’t wait to see how the boys gel.”
All matches in the 2026 Smithy’s VFL season will be broadcast live and free via AFL.com.au, the AFL Live Official App and the VFL App.
Live scores and stats will be available via AFL.com.au, the AFL Live Official App and the VFL App. A new version of the VFL App is now available for download in the App Store.
Click here for PDF version of Southport’s 2026 VFL Fixture.
Click here for full VFL fixture.
