The times:

Thursday February 16

7:40pm (AEDT)

Etihad Stadium

Ticket Boxes open at 6.15pm

Gates open at 6.30pm

The teams:

ESSENDON :

1. Andrew McGrath, 3. Darcy Parish, 4. Jobe Watson, 7. Zach Merrett, 8. Martin Gleeson, 9. Brendon Goddard, 11. David Zaharakis, 12. Mark Baguley, 13. Orazio Fantasia, 15. Josh Green, 17. James Stewart, 18. Michael Hurley, 20. Jackson Merrett, 21. Dyson Heppell, 22. Matthew Leuenberger, 23. David Myers, 24. Craig Bird, 28. Mitch Brown, 29. Patrick Ambrose, 30. Kyle Langford, 32. Travis Colyer, 33. Jayden Laverde, 34. Jake Long, 39. Heath Hocking, 40. Ben Howlett, 43. Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, 44. Shaun McKernan, 47. James Kelly, 49. Matt Dea

COLLINGWOOD:

1. Alex Fasolo, 2. Jordan De Goey, 5. Jamie Elliott, 6. Tyson Goldsack, 9. Jesse White, 11. Jarryd Blair, 12. Matthew Scharenberg, 14. James Aish, 15. Lynden Dunn, 16. Chris Mayne, 18. Travis Varcoe, 19. Levi Greenwood, 21. Tom Phillips, 22. Steele Sidebottom, 23. Lachlan Keeffe, 25. Jack Crisp, 26. Josh Daicos, 28. Ben Sinclair, 30. Darcy Moore, 31. Jackson Ramsay, 32. Will Hoskin-Elliott, 37. Brayden Maynard, 38. Jeremy Howe, 40. Josh Smith, 41. Henry Schade, 43. Adam Oxley, 44. Liam Mackie, 45. Max Lynch, 46. Mason Cox

The rules:

Essendon and Collingwood will have eight players on the bench with unlimited rotaions.

A nine point Supergoal will be awarded for goals outside the 50 metre arc.

Quarters in the first three weeks of the competition will be 20 minutes with the first 15 minutes having no time-on. Quarters will revert to normal length in the last week of the competition.

The third man up in ruck contests in now banned.

A stricter interpretation of the rushed behind rule will be applied. During the pre-season when a deliberate rushed behind occurs, a ball up will take place 14 metres out from goal.

There will be a modified interpretation of the high tackle rule with play-on called if the ball carrier contributes to the high contact.

The Tickets:

Click here to secure your ticket to the game.

Membership:

Member Services will be located at Gate 5 from 6:00pm until quarter time for all membership sales, collections and enquiries.

Merchandise:

Show your #truecolours and shop with Bomber Shop HQ on the concourse at Gate 5 and at the merchandise outlet inside Gate 7. Don’t forget to show your 2017 Membership Card to receive 10% off!

TV Coverage:

VIC/TAS/NSW/ACT – Fox Footy (LIVE) @ 19:30

SA - Fox Footy (LIVE) @ 19:00

WA - Fox Footy (LIVE) @ 16:30

NT - Fox Footy (LIVE) @ 18:00

QLD - Fox Footy (LIVE) @ 18:30

Radio Coverage:

Melbourne – Triple M @ 1900, 3AW @ 1900, SEN @ 1900

Adelaide – Triple M @ 1830

Regional - Croc Media @ 1900