MARK Saturday 25 March in your diary.

That's when Port Adelaide's 2017 campaign will officially kick off, with the Power facing the immense challenge of vanquished 2016 grand finallist Sydney at the SCG.

The AFL fixture's opening round was revealed by News Corp Australia mastheads on Sunday, with Carlton and Richmond again opening the season on Thursday 23 March.

Collingwood will host the reigning premiers Western Bulldogs in a Friday night match at the MCG.

North Melbourne will host West Coast at Etihad Stadium, the Suns-hosted Queensland derby will play at Metricon Stadium and the Bombers and Hawks will do battle at the MCG in the remaining Saturday games.

The Crows will open their season agains the Giants on Sunday at the Adelaide Oval, with St Kilda hosting Melbourne at Etihad and Fremantle taking on Geelong at Subiaco.

The remainder of the fixture will be drip fed early this week, with a full release near the end of the week on portadelaidefc.com.au.

2017 AFL Premiership Season - Round 1 fixture

Thursday 23 March
Carlton v Richmond, MCG, 7.20pm

Friday 24 March
Collingwood v Western Bulldogs, MCG, 7.50pm

Saturday 25 March
Sydney v Port Adelaide, SCG, 2.00pm approx
North Melbourne v West Coast, Etihad, 4.30pm approx
Gold Coast v Brisbane Lions, Metricon, 7.25pm
Essendon v Hawthorn, MCG, 7.25pm

Sunday 26 March
Adelaide v GWS Giants, Adelaide Oval, 1.00pm approx
St Kilda v Melbourne, Etihad, 3.20pm
Fremantle v Geelong, Subiaco, 7.40pm

All times AEDT