The AFL has forecast more matches in “non-traditional” timeslots this year in a bid to complete a 153-match home-and-away season.
The move comes as the league confirmed Monday night football will continue for the foreseeable future, with round eight scheduled to wrap up with a Fremantle-Geelong clash in Perth on July 27.
The round begins on a Thursday night when Gold Coast host the Western Bulldogs on July 23, with a grand final re-match between Greater Western Sydney and Richmond the highlight in the popular Friday night timeslot.
The Giants Stadium clash will be the first competitive meeting between the two sides since the Tigers gave GWS an 89-point hiding in last season’s decider.
Premiership contenders West Coast and Collingwood are slated to meet at Optus Stadium on July 26.
Other matches in round eight include North Melbourne-Carlton, Sydney-Hawthorn, Port Adelaide-St Kilda, Adelaide-Essendon and Melbourne-Brisbane.
The Monday night Fremantle-Geelong fixture follows on from the round-seven meeting of Adelaide and St Kilda in the same slot.
AFL fixtures boss Travis Auld said games would continue to be played outside the traditional Friday-Sunday time frame as the league tries to squeeze in matches within various state government restrictions.
“I would like to thank the clubs and players, who continue to embrace the unique challenges the season continues to throw up,” Auld said.
“As we set ourselves for the next few weeks, our upcoming block of matches from round nine will feature non-traditional timeslots as we look to compress some additional games into the fixture.”
Hawthorn and Carlton will travel to Western Australia immediately following their respective matches in round eight.
Both clubs will quarantine for 14 days in Perth and will play each other in round nine.
The move comes after Geelong and Collingwood were the first Victorian teams sent to Perth, where strict quarantine measures are in place.