The MCG is set to host two AFL men’s games on the same day for the fourth time in VFL/AFL history.
7NEWS understands a Round 23 double-header has been locked in for Saturday, August 15, the penultimate weekend of the season.
Though the exact timings are still to be determined, Essendon v Sydney and Richmond v St Kilda are slated to be the two matches the same day at the MCG.
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One will be in the early afternoon, and the other at night.
Hawthorn v Collingwood is expected to be on the Sunday afternoon of August 16, also at the MCG and live and free on Channel 7 and 7plus Sport.
The moves follow the AFL’s decision to leave Thursday, August 13 free of men’s football.
Instead, Melbourne and Hawthorn will play an AFLW fixture that evening, giving the women’s competition a night of clear air in its opening round.
It means the league has to squish nine AFL games into three days, including the three at the MCG.
Fremantle will host Adelaide in Perth on Friday, August 14.
The other Round 23 games are:
Brisbane v Gold Coast
GWS v West Coast
North Melbourne v Geelong
Western Bulldogs v Carlton
Port Adelaide v Melbourne
While the league has scheduled double-headers at Marvel Stadium this year, they haven’t done so at the MCG since Round 16 in 2021.
COVID meant that Melbourne faced GWS in game one, while Fremantle’s clash against Carlton was moved from Perth to the MCG and staged at night.
Previously, the only other men’s double-headers at the MCG took place back in 1986.
One occurred in Round 5, and the other in Round 19.
The AFL will release the full Round 23 and Round 24 fixtures on Wednesday.
