BRISBANE'S sudden return to form could be a blessing for the AFL's finals fixturing.
The Lions have now won five consecutive games to storm back into top-four contention, easing the League's potential semi-final fixture headache ahead of a first ever NFL match to be played on Australian shores this September.
Brisbane's winning streak, alongside Adelaide recently notching five wins in six and Geelong's run of five defeats from its past six games, has increased the chances of at least three non-Victorian teams finishing in the top four.
That would ensure a maximum of only one semi-final in Victoria, and potentially none at all, on the same weekend the Los Angeles Rams will play the San Francisco 49ers in a landmark NFL clash at the MCG.
It was confirmed in March that the NFL clash will take place at 10.35am AEST on Friday 11 September, with the MCC confident in its ability to revert the ground back to AFL dimensions within 30 hours for a potential AFL semi-final on the Saturday night.
However, the possibility of two Victorian games across that weekend has left the League considering the rare option of Marvel Stadium hosting a semi-final on the Friday night, or a game being played on a Sunday afternoon.
The Docklands venue has never hosted a semi-final before, and hasn't hosted any final since 2011, while a non-Covid final hasn't been played on a Sunday since 2015 and a semi-final hasn't been played on a Sunday in more than 30 years.
Brisbane returned to the top four a fortnight ago and is currently fourth on percentage ahead of Adelaide and Melbourne, who are all only two points behind Hawthorn in third.
Fremantle and Sydney are four and two games clear respectively in first and second, with the overwhelming likelihood that Optus Stadium and the SCG will host qualifying finals to kick-start September action in earnest.
There were no semi-finals in Victoria last year, with Brisbane and Adelaide hosting, while there hasn't been a semi-final round with two Victorian teams hosting at the MCG since 2022.
The AFL and the MCC have repeatedly reiterated their confidence in being able to wipe the ground's NFL markings and returning it to AFL standards between the Friday morning and Saturday night, should a semi-final be played in Victoria that weekend.
The MCC converted the ground in a similar turnaround time last year when the Australian Wallabies faced the British Lions in front of 90,307 people on a Saturday night in July, before Collingwood played Richmond on the Sunday afternoon.