PORT ADELAIDE faces a tough opening to the 2023 Hostplus SANFL League which includes no games at Alberton Oval until Round 5.

The SANFL released the competition fixture for 2023 on Tuesday, having previously announced the Magpies will open the campaign in a Showdown double header at Adelaide Oval on Saturday 1 April and make a trip to Loxton for a second Russell Ebert tribute match against West Adelaide in Round 4.

Tyson Goldsack’s side will face four of last season’s finalists in the first five rounds, opening the season at Adelaide Oval and playing at Glenelg, Unley and Loxton before its first match at home, against old rival Norwood.

But Alberton will host its fair share of games with back-to-back matches on three occasions including Rounds 13 and 14 against premier North Adelaide and Sturt.

Port Adelaide will finish its season with consecutive away games, first to Noarlunga to face South Adelaide and then to Elizabeth to tackle Central District.

Much of the season from Round 11 onwards has been left as a floating fixture with Port Adelaide’s opponents and the game venues known but the time and date of each fixture to be confirmed.

VIEW PORT ADELAIDE'S 2023 SANFL FIXTURE HERE

Among the other highlights of the club’s fixture, Port will host West Adelaide and play away against Woodville-West Torrens in the SANFL’s First Nations Round, which will be played across Rounds 11 and 12.

There will be several weekends without any SANFL footy including the AFL’s Gather Round, which comes after Round 2, the SANFL state game against an opponent and at a venue to be confirmed on Saturday 20 May between rounds 6 and 7, and a bye weekend on the 5^th and 6^th of August, between rounds 15 and 16.

Round 10 will be played as a split round with Port Adelaide’s trip to the Parade to be played in the first weekend and the Magpies to sit out the second weekend.

Finals will all be played at Adelaide Oval, starting on Sunday 3 September. The Grand Final is due to be played on Sunday 24 September.