THE AFL is refusing to give ground over a potential venue clash involving its pre-season NAB Cup competition and sold-out shows featuring iconic Australian rock act AC/DC.

Chief operating officer Gillon McLachlan said the League was relying on Docklands being available in the second weekend of February in order for its 2010 season to run smoothly.

That's at odds with the stadium operator's plans to stage concerts on February 11, 13 and 15.

This year the AFL’s Bushfire Appeal Match was played at Docklands on Friday, February 13 – the second week of the pre-season competition.

McLachlan said the League was looking forward to beginning talks with stadium management in a bid to resolve the matter and flagged Melbourne Showgrounds and Flemington as alternative venues for the concerts.

"Ultimately we’re trying to run a football competition that runs from early February through till the end of September and that includes the NAB Cup … this has got nothing to do with AC/DC," McLachlan said on Thursday afternoon.

"I can tell all the AC/DC fans out there, of which I’m one, that this is about us actually being able to play some games. We’re just keen for a dialogue as to how that’s going to happen when both the other AFL venues in this town are unavailable.

"This is about this venue," he added. "It’s the only one that can hold AFL competition and we’re a really important stakeholder and we’ve got an agreement and I think it’s important that people respect that."

Critics of the decision to stand firm – rather than move elsewhere during the time the rock group is booked to tour Melbourne – have suggested the League could be flexible with its dates.

"This year I think it (the NAB Cup) started on February 7. Last year it started on February 14th – the weekend of the AC/DC concert – so both of the last two years the NAB Cups would actually have been played on that weekend and played in Melbourne," McLachlan said.

McLachlan also rejected the notion that the AFL should look for alternative venues to stage its pre-season competition, such as Visy Park.

"The issue with that is they’re redeveloping the Carlton facilities, so there are no ticketing facilities," he said.

"It’s a construction site at the moment. It’s sort of flat out being halfway developed, so it’s not a ground we could play AFL games at, at the moment."

AC/DC has sold out three concerts and tickets are on sale for a fourth show but McLachlan said the issue of the venue clash had not recently surfaced.

"I don’t think you should assume we haven’t raised this a long time ago," he said.