Carlton will tackle GWS in a major time climax to the AFL home-and-away season that would have big finals ramifications.
The Blues, presently in fifth spot, are on monitor to finish a decade-long finals drought after profitable their final seven matches.
But they sit simply two factors away from the eighth-placed Giants and 6 away from Essendon, who’re twelfth, with three rounds left to play.
The AFL on Monday locked within the schedule for spherical 24, pitching the Blues-Giants tussle at Marvel Stadium in a standalone Sunday evening timeslot at 6.10pm (AEST).
The Bombers’ finals hopes might relaxation on their round-24 encounter with ladder leaders Collingwood, which has been locked in for Friday August 25.
Brad Scott’s facet tackle North Melbourne and GWS over the following fortnight and will climb into the highest eight with victory over the Magpies, which might arrange a grandstand end to spherical 24 over the weekend.
The Kangaroos host Gold Coast on the Saturday afternoon and the Brisbane Lions tackle St Kilda on the Gabba within the twilight slot, with the Geelong-Western Bulldogs and West Coast-Adelaide clashes set for the Saturday evening.
At this stage, Hawthorn-Fremantle is the one match-up in spherical 24 that won’t have any bearing on the highest eight. Their MCG conflict is about for the Saturday afternoon.
Sunday’s schedule options back-to-back Port Adelaide-Richmond and Sydney-Melbourne matches earlier than the Carlton-GWS encounter.
“The last few rounds have shown this finals race is very much still wide open and we have been witnessing some incredible closely-fought matches,” AFL head of scheduling Josh Bowler mentioned.
“We expect these last three rounds will keep footy fans enthralled as the race for the top eight is decided.
“This final spherical might probably see as much as six video games with each groups competing for a finals end result which can make for a becoming conclusion to a record-breaking season to date.”
The Sunday night fixture won’t bother Carlton or GWS ahead of possible week-one finals match-ups, with the pre-finals bye to provide an adequate break between matches.
AFL ROUND 24 FIXTURE:
Friday 25 August
Essendon v Collingwood, MCG
Saturday 26 August
North Melbourne v Gold Coast, Blundstone Arena
Hawthorn v Fremantle, MCG
Brisbane Lions v St Kilda, Gabba
Geelong v Western Bulldogs, GMHBA Stadium
West Coast v Adelaide, Optus Stadium
Sunday 27 August
Port Adelaide v Richmond, Adelaide Oval
Sydney v Melbourne, SCG
Carlton v GWS, Marvel Stadium
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
