THE PAST two premiers, Richmond and West Coast, will play the second of two Thursday night games in round 14, which kickstarts the second Big Bash-style series of matches in the COVID-19 ravaged Toyota AFL Premiership Season.

The Tigers will 'host' the Eagles at Metricon stadium on August 27, after the completion of a Hawthorn-Essendon match at Adelaide Oval.

>> CHECK OUT THE FULL FIXTURE FOR R14-18 BELOW

Meanwhile, the missing round three game between Essendon and Melbourne (postponed due to Conor McKenna's positive COVID test) will be played in round 18.

17 OF 18 DAYS Hawks, Dons to fire up second fixture frenzy

The Thursday night double-header will begin a sequence where matches are played on 18 of 19 days, with the AFL cramming rounds 14 to 17 into three weeks.

Matches in that period will be played in Perth, Adelaide, Northern Territory and Queensland, including three games in Cairns.

Perth's Optus Stadium will host its final home and away match of 2020 in round 14, with the Eagles and Dockers to be based outside WA for the remaining matches.

Each Perth club will have played at Optus Stadium on seven occasions in 2020.

Cazalys Stadium in Cairns will host three matches in this fixturing block – Sydney v Melbourne (round 15), Melbourne v Fremantle (16) and Sydney v Brisbane (17).

Collingwood will play at the Gabba in round 14 and 15 matches respectively against Carlton and Brisbane. 

The Lions-Suns Q-Clash will be held at the same venue in round 17.

Ten teams will be given byes during rounds 14-17.

Final round (round 18) match-ups were confirmed on Friday by the AFL, with times to be revealed at a later date in order to maximise anticipation leading into the finals. That round will revert to a "traditional" structure, with games scheduled Thursday through Sunday.

AFL general manager clubs and broadcasting Travis Auld said the clubs had given their approval for a second compression sequence of matches, after enduring the four rounds into three weeks of rounds nine to 12. 

"The feedback from clubs, players, broadcasters and fans has been supportive of the initial compression phase of rounds 9-12 - clubs and players are enjoying playing more often and viewership remains very strong, with the average audience up 14 per cent year on year," Auld said.

"Scheduling a second compression phase allows us to again play more matches in a shorter period of time as the majority of clubs continue to live in a hub environment.

"The support of players, clubs and broadcasters to take this approach, paired with the limitations on attendance at matches, supports the playing of games in non-traditional time-slots that allow us to showcase our game to fans across the entire week." 

Across rounds 14-17, night-time double-headers will take place on Tuesday nights in rounds 15 and 16, and Thursday nights in round 14 and 15.

Twitter: @barrettdamian

Round 14

Thursday, August 27
Hawthorn v Essendon, Adelaide Oval, 4.40pm AEST, 4.10pm ACST
Richmond v West Coast, Metricon Stadium, 7.10pm AEST
Friday, August 28
Western Bulldogs v Geelong, Metricon Stadium, 7.50pm AEST
Saturday, August 29
Port Adelaide v Sydney, Adelaide Oval, 1.45pm AEST, 1.15pm ACST
Fremantle v Greater Western Sydney, Optus Stadium, 4.35pm AEST, 2.35pm ACST
Melbourne v St Kilda, TIO Traeger Park, 7.40pm AEST, 7.10pm ACST
Sunday, August 30 
Carlton v Collingwood, The Gabba, 3.35pm AEST
Gold Coast v North Melbourne, Metricon Stadium, 6.10pm AEST
Byes: Adelaide, Brisbane 

Round 15

Tuesday, September 1
Hawthorn v Adelaide, Adelaide Oval, 5.40pm AEST, 5.10pm ACST
West Coast v Essendon, The Gabba, 8.10pm AEST 
Wednesday, September 2
Richmond v Fremantle, Metricon Stadium, 7.10pm AEST 
Thursday, September 3
Sydney v Melbourne,  Cazalys Stadium, 4.40pm AEST
Greater Western Sydney v Carlton,Metricon Stadium, 7.10pm AEST 
Friday, September 4 
Brisbane v Collingwood, The Gabba (SEVEN) 7.50pm AEST
Byes: Geelong, Gold Coast, North Melbourne, Port Adelaide, St Kilda, Western Bulldogs

Round 16

Saturday, September 5
North Melbourne v Port Adelaide, Metricon Stadium, 7.40pm AEST
Sunday, September 6
St Kilda v Hawthorn, Metricon Stadium, 1.05pm AEST
Geelong v Essendon, The Gabba, 3.35pm AEST
Western Bulldogs v West Coast, Metricon Stadium, 6.10pm AEST
Monday, September 7 
Melbourne v Fremantle, Cazalys Stadium, 7.10pm AEST
Tuesday, September 8  
Adelaide v Greater Western Sydney, Adelaide Oval, 5.40pm AEST, 5.10pm ACST
Carlton v Sydney, Metricon Stadium, 8.10pm AEST
Wednesday, September 9
Brisbane v Gold Coast, The Gabba, 7.10pm AEST 
Byes: Collingwood, Richmond

Round 17

Thursday, September 10 
St Kilda v West Coast, The Gabba, 7.10pm AEST
Friday, September 11
Geelong v Richmond, Metricon Stadium, 7.50pm AEST 
Saturday, September 12 
North Melbourne v Fremantle, Metricon Stadium, 1.45pm  AEST 
Port Adelaide v Essendon, Adelaide Oval, 4.35pm AEST, 4.05pm ACST 
Greater Western Sydney v Melbourne, The Gabba, 7.40pm AEST 
Sunday, September 13 
Carlton v Adelaide, Metricon Stadium, 1.05pm AEST                             
Hawthorn v Western Bulldogs, Adelaide Oval, 3.35pm AEST, 3.05pm ACST                      
Sydney v Brisbane, Cazalys Stadium, 6.10pm AEST                          
Monday, September 14
Collingwood v Gold Coast, The Gabba, 7.10pm AEST                                    

Round 18 (all venues, times TBC)                  

Adelaide v Richmond
Brisbane v Carlton                              
Collingwood v Port Adelaide 
Essendon v Melbourne
Fremantle v Western Bulldogs
Hawthorn v Gold Coast          
North Melbourne v West Coast
St Kilda v Greater Western Sydney                            
Sydney v Geelong