IN THE wake of coaches criticising the pre-finals bye, AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan has defended the week off, but says he "can't guarantee that it will be here forever".

It was introduced in 2016 to reduce the incentive for teams to rest players en masse in round 23, as North Melbourne and Fremantle did in 2015.

However, four-time Hawthorn premiership coach Alastair Clarkson recently said "there's no integrity in finishing top four if it's a disadvantage for you". 

A variety of events have and will be held in the bye week, including the Virgin Australia AFL All Australian dinner, the NAB AFL Rising Star Award and the NAB AFL Women's State of Origin match.

"We made a change for known reasons. We think there's actually been a lot of upside because of it. We dealt with an integrity issue and then last year's finals series was remarkable," McLachlan said on Thursday.

"I'm not sure why (there is) continued speculation, because the build-up's going to be fabulous again. The ticket sales are strong and we've had a great year. I'm not sure why we're talking about it.

"You can't guarantee that it will be here forever. I can't give you that commitment."

In a recent survey of all 18 coaches on AFL.com.au, only three supported the bye. That was a rise from none last year.

"I'm not sure what the downside (is), other than the theory of some of the coaches, who feel maybe there's less advantage than there was in the top four," McLachlan said.

"I've dealt with the integrity issue. The minute there's an integrity issue, we'll change it but other than that … I reckon we'll think it wasn't such a bad idea."