Thursday’s right night for footy

THE AFL has confirmed the finals series will again begin on a Thursday night.

Acting football operations boss Andrew Dillon could be in for a frantic Sunday with the AFL likely to have to wait until Round 23 is finished for the top eight to be set.

Dillon said though venues and teams were up in the air, the schedule for the first finals weekend’s four clashes had been agreed.

The league will repeat the Thursday night timeslot after the success of last year’s West Coast-Western Bulldogs elimination final.

“It will certainly be on a Thursday night. Whether it’s interstate or not depends on how we end up after Sunday,” Dillon said.

“We’ll probably still be waiting until after the West Coast-Adelaide twilight game on Sunday until we know exactly what the final make-up of the eight is.

“But it will be Thursday night, Friday night and then we’ll have two games on the Saturday — one during the day and one at night.”

Geelong must beat Greater Western Sydney to secure a home qualifying final.