| Round | Opponent | Venue | Date | Home / Away | Result |
| 1 | Adelaide | Optus Oval | Saturday 28 March | Home | Won by 10 points |
| 2 | Western Bulldogs | Optus Oval | Sunday 5 April | Away * | Lost by 56 points |
| 3 | Essendon | MCG | Monday 13 April | Home | Lost by 1 point |
| 4 | Melbourne | Optus Oval | Sunday 19 April | Home | Lost by 2 points |
| 5 | St Kilda | Waverley Park | Sunday 26 April | Away | Lost by 22 points |
| 6 | Collingwood | MCG | Saturday 2 May | Home | Lost by 29 points |
| 7 | Port Power | Optus Oval | Saturday 9 May | Home | Lost by 89 points |
| 8 | West Coast Eagles | Subiaco | Sunday 17 May | Away | Lost by 8 points |
| 9 | Nth Melbourne | Optus Oval | Saturday 23 May | Home | Lost by 41 points |
| 10 | Brisbane | Optus Oval | Saturday 30 May | Home | Won by 24 points |
| 11 | Geelong | MCG | Saturday 6 June | Away | Lost by 17 points |
| 12 | Sydney | Optus Oval | Saturday 13 June | Home | Won by 26 points |
| 13 | Fremantle | Subiaco | Sunday 21 June | Away | Lost by 8 points |
| 14 | Hawthorn | Optus Oval | Saturday 27 June | Home | Won by 16 points |
| 15 | Richmond | MCG | Friday 3 July (N) | Away | Lost by 62 points |
| 16 | Adelaide | Football Park | Friday 10 July (N) | Away | Won by 4 points |
| 17 | Western Bulldogs | Optus Oval | Saturday 25 July | Home | Won by 80 points |
| 18 | Essendon | MCG | Sunday 2 August | Away | Lost by 6 points |
| 19 | Melbourne | MCG | Saturday 8 August | Away | Lost by 49 points |
| 20 | St Kilda | MCG | Sunday 16 August | Home | Won by 30 points |
| 21 | Collingwood | MCG | Sunday 23 August | Away | Won by 55 points |
| 22 | Port Power | Football Park | Sunday 30 August | Away | Won by 54 points |
Note: the Round 2 clash at Optus Oval would be an away game for Carlton. Western Bulldogs was to become a co-tenant at Optus Oval and play its home games there from 1997 up until the end of the 1999 season. The Western Bulldogs would relocate their home games to the newly built Docklands Stadium from 2000 onwards.