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The AFL has confirmed the minor premier will be rewarded with a full seven-day break ahead of its first final, leaving West Coast and Adelaide with plenty to play for this weekend.
The Eagles and the Crows may have had a top two finish locked up for weeks - ensuring the double chance in September and the opportunity to host two finals - but the league has moved quickly to ensure the team that finishes on top gets the maximum advantage heading into the first week of the finals.
West Coast currently lead Adelaide by a game at the top of the ladder but the Crows can grab top spot if they beat Melbourne on Saturday at AAMI Stadium and the Eagles lose to Richmond at the MCG.
While the AFL will announce its finals schedule for the first week of the September action at 7.30pm on Sunday night on Channel Ten - with only the Western Bulldogs' finishing position of eighth confirmed at this stage - the league said the minor premiers will be rewarded with at least a full week to prepare for its qualifying final.
"The side that qualifies first on the ladder will be given a seven-day break leading into its first final," AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said on Tuesday.
With West Coast and Adelaide both playing on Saturday in the final round, it means that whichever of those two teams finishes on top of the ladder will start its finals campaign at home the following Saturday while the team that finishes second is likely to have to play its opening final on a Friday night on only a six-day break.
Demetriou said the AFL had numerous options to consider in terms of its finals scheduling but in doing so would be guided by three key principles - the first being the side that finishes on top should be rewarded with a full week to prepare for its opening final.
"Added to that, all sides must be given a minimum six-day break going into the finals series, which will exclude any match involving Sydney or Collingwood (which both play on Sunday in the final home and away round) being played on the Friday night of week one."
"The AFL's remaining key priority is to maximise our attendances at the games and television audiences around the country with the best possible mix of the four games through Friday night, Saturday afternoon, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon."
That means that if the AFL ladder remains as is after round 22 - the most likely finals schedule for the first week would be Adelaide hosting Fremantle on a Friday night at AAMI Stadium and West Coast hosting Melbourne on a Saturday night at Subiaco in the two qualifying finals while the elimination finals between Collingwood and St Kilda at the MCG and Sydney and the Bulldogs in Sydney would be staged on Saturday and Sunday afternoon respectively.
The Eagles and the Crows may have had a top two finish locked up for weeks - ensuring the double chance in September and the opportunity to host two finals - but the league has moved quickly to ensure the team that finishes on top gets the maximum advantage heading into the first week of the finals.
West Coast currently lead Adelaide by a game at the top of the ladder but the Crows can grab top spot if they beat Melbourne on Saturday at AAMI Stadium and the Eagles lose to Richmond at the MCG.
While the AFL will announce its finals schedule for the first week of the September action at 7.30pm on Sunday night on Channel Ten - with only the Western Bulldogs' finishing position of eighth confirmed at this stage - the league said the minor premiers will be rewarded with at least a full week to prepare for its qualifying final.
"The side that qualifies first on the ladder will be given a seven-day break leading into its first final," AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said on Tuesday.
With West Coast and Adelaide both playing on Saturday in the final round, it means that whichever of those two teams finishes on top of the ladder will start its finals campaign at home the following Saturday while the team that finishes second is likely to have to play its opening final on a Friday night on only a six-day break.
Demetriou said the AFL had numerous options to consider in terms of its finals scheduling but in doing so would be guided by three key principles - the first being the side that finishes on top should be rewarded with a full week to prepare for its opening final.
"Added to that, all sides must be given a minimum six-day break going into the finals series, which will exclude any match involving Sydney or Collingwood (which both play on Sunday in the final home and away round) being played on the Friday night of week one."
"The AFL's remaining key priority is to maximise our attendances at the games and television audiences around the country with the best possible mix of the four games through Friday night, Saturday afternoon, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon."
That means that if the AFL ladder remains as is after round 22 - the most likely finals schedule for the first week would be Adelaide hosting Fremantle on a Friday night at AAMI Stadium and West Coast hosting Melbourne on a Saturday night at Subiaco in the two qualifying finals while the elimination finals between Collingwood and St Kilda at the MCG and Sydney and the Bulldogs in Sydney would be staged on Saturday and Sunday afternoon respectively.
