NEXT week's jampacked schedule will see the AFL crown its Therabody AFL All-Australian team and NAB AFL Rising Star winner on the eve of the first finals clash.

The AFL Awards night will again be a semi-virtual affair that is broadcast on Fox Footy on Thursday, August 26, and will also see the winner of the AFL Coaches' Association Award named.

The event was set to be a key pillar of the pre-finals bye but, with the week off before the finals scrapped by the League until later into September, it now shapes as the appetiser to the beginning of the finals series next Friday night.

Before last year the awards had been run separately as important events in the AFL's busy lead-up to the Grand Final but in 2020 the League put the three key player awards together to be announced as one.

Last year the League staged an event that saw players who were in Queensland attend Metricon Stadium to receive their All-Australian honours while players from other states were beamed in via video link.  

The Rising Star winner will also be named, with Melbourne ruck/forward Luke Jackson the red-hot favourite to claim the honour, while the coaches' association's naming of its best player for the season will also be revealed.

The event, which starts at 8.30pm, will also see the Coleman Medal presented to the competition's leading goalkicker, with Carlton's Harry McKay eight goals ahead of second-placed Tom Hawkins. McKay will not play this weekend after shoulder surgery.

The AFL Awards will follow Tuesday's Australian Football Hall of Fame induction night which will again be staged without a crowd due to COVID-19.

The AFL Players' Association's most valuable player will be named on September 1.