THE AFL's second wave of Big Bash-style programming in the 2020 season will see matches played on 17 of 18 days, beginning Thursday, August 27. 

Hawthorn versus Essendon will be one of two matches to be played on that night, with the AFL to release times and locations of the remaining matches of rounds 14 to 17 on Friday. 

ROUNDS 12-13 Check out the full fixture

Round 18 will also be released on Friday, but it will be deemed a "floating fixture", with times of games not to be determined until a later date in order to maximise intrigue leading into the finals. 

There may be a week’s break between round 18 and finals, with the Brownlow Medal now expected to be held in the week after the completion of the final round. 

Ten teams will have byes in the rounds 14 to 17 block. 

The first wave of Big-Bash-type fixturing will be completed on Monday, when a Richmond-Gold Coast match at the Gabba brings to a close a sequence of 33 matches being played in 20 days during rounds nine to 12. 

The already scheduled round 13 matches have been "traditionally" structured in a Friday to Monday sequence (August 21 to 24). 

There will be a two-day break between the completion of round 13 and the start of round 14.