As part of the announcement, it was confirmed that the Brisbane Lions will play Sydney at 4:10pm on Saturday 3 September at the SCG.
It will form part of a Fox Sports triple-header which will see three matches shown live in succession from 1:10pm on Saturday afternoon.
The full schedule of games will be as follows (local time in each case):
Friday September 2
Collingwood v Geelong Cats at the MCG, 7.40pm (Channel 7)
Saturday September 3
Gold Coast Suns v Hawthorn at Metricon Stadium, 1.10pm (Fox Sports)
Western Bulldogs v Fremantle at Etihad Stadium, 2.10pm (Network Ten)
Sydney Swans v Brisbane Lions at the SCG, 4.10pm (Fox Sports)
Carlton v St Kilda at the MCG, 7.10pm (Network Ten)
West Coast v Adelaide Crows at Patersons Stadium, 5.10pm (Fox Sports)
Sunday September 4
Port Adelaide v Melbourne at Adelaide Oval, 2.40pm (Channel 7)
Richmond v North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium, 4.40pm (Fox Sports)
The AFL has sought to maximise fixture options for week one of the 2011 Toyota AFL Finals Series, with all sides currently in the top eight at this point of the season to have played by Saturday September 3.
Hawthorn and Fremantle will both be able to return to their home state by Saturday night.
It was determined that the Collingwood and Geelong Cats match should be fixtured on Friday night, with both sides likely to finish in the top two positions on the ladder and deserving of the maximum preparation and fixture options leading into the opening week of the finals.
Only one team (Melbourne) was scheduled to travel on the final day of the premiership season, on Sunday September 4, on the basis that Melbourne is not currently in the top eight, coupled with the fact the trip to Adelaide for its game being the shortest possible flight of all teams scheduled to travel in round 24. Playing in the earlier of the two matches on Sunday September 4 ensures that Melbourne will be home as early as possible on Sunday evening should they be competing in the 2011 Toyota AFL Finals Series the week after.
The match against Port Adelaide will be the first-ever AFL match to be played at Adelaide Oval since the Adelaide Crows (1991) and Port Adelaide (1997) joined the national competition.
As per recent years, the AFL has scheduled five games for Saturday, so that the majority of games can be completed by Saturday night, and enable the widest possible options to be considered for scheduling for week one of the finals.
