Greater Western Sydney Giants will bank on a blockbuster pre-season fixture and an early-season twilight timeslot to attract a bumper crowd to Manuka Oval next year.
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The Giants will play the Western Bulldogs at Manuka Oval on April 12 and it's hoped the round three 4.40pm Saturday start will attract a big crowd.
Canberra is also set to secure a high-profile Victorian team - possibly Collingwood, Hawthorn or Geelong - for a pre-season match at Manuka Oval in February.
The AFL will issue its draw on Thursday for the 2014 season.
The government hoped Collingwood, Hawthorn or Geelong would play the Giants in Canberra to boost crowd numbers as part of the 10-year, $26 million deal with GWS.
The Giants will play the Bulldogs in the clash formerly known as the Prime Minister's Cup because of Julia Gillard's alliance to the Bulldogs.
But officials are tight-lipped about which of the big-drawing Victorian clubs will play in Canberra in the pre-season.
The government requested Hawthorn, Geelong, Collingwood, the Gold Coast and the Sydney Swans as options for the four matches in Canberra next year.
The Giants will start their 2014 premiership season with a clash against cross-town rivals the Swans at Skoda Stadium on March 15.
It will be the first time the teams will play following the Swans' successful mission to poach Hawthorn superstar Lance Franklin from the Giants' grip, while former Sydney ruckman Shane Mumford will play his first AFL game for GWS.
The Greater Western Sydney board was considering spreading out games in Canberra and moving visits to Manuka Oval to later in the season to help boost crowd numbers in Canberra.
But the government is keen to have early-season fixtures to avoid dropping crowd numbers during Canberra's coldest months.
More than 11,000 fans turned up to watch the Giants play St Kilda in April this year and officials are hoping for a similar turnout for the round-three clash against the Bulldogs next year.
But crowd numbers dropped in the next two games, with 6832 watching the Giants lose to the Gold Coast and 7132 watching the Bulldogs clash in July.
New GWS Academy coach Mark McVeigh wants to turn Canberra back into an AFL breeding ground.
Former Essendon star McVeigh was unveiled on Tuesday as the Giants' newest coaching recruit. He went to school at Erindale College for a year as a teenager as part of the Australian Institute of Sport program before being drafted to the Bombers.
''Canberra can produce a lot of kids … there's a lot of talent there; all I have to do is get to know it and then harness it,'' McVeigh said.
''I want to be hands-on, so I'll be coming down and meeting the guys and seeing what talent is about.
''There was a little hole there when the NSW/ACT Rams weren't in the TAC Cup.
''I'll be down in Canberra a lot, I'll embrace and I'll very much be hands-on.''
McVeigh is hopeful the NSW/ACT Rams will be included in the under-18s TAC Cup next year to help create a pathway for the best juniors from Canberra.