AFL FOOTBALL will return to North Queensland for the seventh straight season when the Western Bulldogs host Gold Coast at Cazaly's Stadium in Cairns on July 22.

The round 18 match will revert back to the twilight timeslot with a 4.35pm AEST start.

The Dogs and Suns have met in Cairns the last three years, but with the premiers looking to establish a secondary foothold in Ballarat and playing up to two games a year there it had been unclear which clubs might fill a vacancy in an important emerging AFL market.

But now the Bulldogs are now eager to play up north again, and next year's game will also mark the seventh time the Suns have travelled to the north of their home state for a premiership season match.

Between 2011 and 2013 they played Richmond at Cazaly's Stadium.

AFL general manager clubs and AFL operations, Travis Auld, said there was a clear love for the game in North Queensland, which made it easy for the League to keep fixturing games there.

"North Queensland fans are passionate supporters of Australian football that's seen through the participation numbers and the AFL talent the region has produced through the likes of Charlie Dixon, Jarrod Harbrow and Zac Smith," Auld said.

"It's important to the growth of the game that regions, such as North Queensland, have access to the elite competition and see the superstars up close."

The AFL has worked closely with the Queensland Government, through Tourism and Events Queensland, Cairns Regional Council and AFL Cairns to make the game happen and with the Western Bulldogs coming off their historic premiership win, it is expected that more than 10,000 fans will attend the match and that tickets will sell quickly.

The Bulldogs boast an unbeaten record in Cairns and they beat the undermanned Suns there in round 17 this year by 48 points, with Clay Smith kicking three goals in his third game back after his third knee reconstruction.

The full home and away fixture for 2017 will be released by the AFL on Thursday.