Adelaide and Gold Coast are the only finals contenders scheduled to play on the final Sunday of the home-and-away season.
The AFL on Tuesday confirmed its fixture for round 23, which is customarily left floating until late in the season to allow likely finalists to play earlier in the week, in a bid to give the league maximum scheduling flexibility, in terms of teams having adequate rest between matches.
The round will begin with Collingwood in what could be a pivotal match against Hawthorn, given it has slipped out of the top eight.
Carlton will host Essendon at the MCG on Saturday afternoon, a match that will be overlapped by the showdown between top-four contenders Fremantle and Port Adelaide at Patersons Stadium.
Sydney will host Richmond at ANZ Stadium in the twilight match on Saturday, with the night matches both in Victoria: Geelong against Brisbane at Simonds Stadium and North Melbourne against Melbourne at Etihad Stadium.
The Suns have been given the early game on Sunday, against West Coast, with Adelaide to then host St Kilda in the mid-afternoon match at Adelaide Oval. The home-and-away season will finish with a twilight match at Etihad Stadium between two teams out of finals contention: Western Bulldogs and GWS.
The AFL said the Dockers-Power matches was scheduled for Saturday afternoon to allow the visitors to return to Adelaide on Saturday night.
It conceded that while Adelaide had to play on the Sunday the negative effect of that was lessened by playing at home, as Gold Coast will. It also reiterated that preference for scheduling, in terms of seeking maximum rest before the finals, was given to higher-ranked teams.
ROUND 23
Friday 29 August
Collingwood vs Hawthorn, MCG, 7.50pm AEST
Saturday 30 August
Carlton vs Essendon, MCG, 1.45pm AEST
Fremantle vs Port Adelaide, Patersons Stadium, 3.10pm AEST (1.10pm local)
Sydney vs Richmond, ANZ Stadium, 4.40pm AEST
Geelong vs Brisbane, Simonds Stadium, 7.40pm AEST
North Melbourne vs Melbourne, Etihad Stadium, 7.40pm AEST
Sunday 31 August
Gold Coast vs West Coast, Metricon Stadium, 1.10pm AEST
Adelaide vs St Kilda, Adelaide Oval, 3.20pm AEST (2.50pm local)
Western Bulldogs vs GWS, Etihad Stadium, 4.40pm AEST
