The AFL has today announced the first block of four rounds to restart the 2020 Toyota AFL Premiership Season.

Collingwood will play host to reigning Premiers Richmond at the MCG as the Toyota Premiership season resumes on Thursday 11 June at 7:40pm (AEST).
 
Rounds Two, Three, Four and Five will see matches hosted across Victoria, Queensland, NSW and a single game in South Australia, the Adelaide Showdown in Round two.
  
Fremantle and the West Coast Eagles will be based out of the Gold Coast and play their first four matches in Queensland. They will each play away matches against the Brisbane Lions (at the Gabba) and the Gold Coast SUNS (at Metricon Stadium). They will each have one home game at Metricon Stadium during the four-week period, with Fremantle named as the home team when playing Port Adelaide in Round Three and the West Coast Eagles as the home team against Richmond in Round Five.
 
Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide will resume their seasons playing against each other at the Adelaide Oval in Round Two, before relocating to the Gold Coast. They will both then play their next three matches in Queensland. As per the WA clubs, these will include away matches against Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast SUNS and one home game, with Port Adelaide as the home team against the West Coast Eagles in Round Four and the Adelaide Crows as the home team against Fremantle in Round Five.
 
Metricon Stadium will host a double-header in each of Round Three and Four, with two matches scheduled at the stadium on the same day.
 
AFL General Manager of Clubs and Broadcasting Travis Auld said the initial block of the fixture was constructed with the primary aim to achieve a strong start with a series of key Thursday and Friday night matches to build momentum into the early part of the season. Other objectives include seeking to minimise team travel and provide the clubs a more traditional block of timeslots that ensures clubs have a minimum five-day break between games.
 
“To re-launch the season we have focused on scheduling blockbuster match-ups across these four weeks, particularly in the Thursday and Friday night primetime slots,” Mr Auld said.
 
“As we navigate through the remaining 108 games plus finals, we will continue to be adaptable with our scheduling, ensuring our fixtures align with the relevant State Government restrictions in place at the time.”
 
“It is important for us to stay flexible and agile throughout this season, but we are looking forward to matches getting underway and supporters being able to watch their clubs and players in action again.”
 
A standard round will consist of one Thursday night, one Friday night, one Saturday afternoon, one Saturday twilight, two Saturday nights, two Sunday afternoon and one Sunday evening match.
 
Teams featuring in the four Thursday night matches include reigning Premiers Richmond (three), Collingwood, Hawthorn, Sydney Swans, Western Bulldogs and West Coast Eagles and will be played across three venues – MCG (two), SCG (one) and Metricon Stadium (one).
 
The traditional Friday night weekly blockbuster will be played across two states - Victoria (MCG, Marvel Stadium and GMHBA Stadium) and NSW (GIANTS Stadium) and will feature seven clubs playing on a Friday night in the first block.
 
The Sunday evening timeslot is designed to optimise viewership.
 
“Working with our broadcast partners, we have pushed back the normal Sunday twilight match start time from 4:40pm to 6:05pm EST. This avoids overlap with the Sunday 3:35pm game and provides for a fan-friendly broadcast timeslot.” Mr Auld said.
 
The aim is to release the next block of games, likely to be two rounds, after the conclusion of Round Three.
 
Matches will be broadcast live by the Seven Network, Foxtel and via Kayo and the official AFL Live App thanks to Telstra.
 
The AFL would like to acknowledge the support of all industry stakeholders throughout this process as well as Optimal Planning for their assistance in the construction of the fixture.
 
The first Return to Play block of 2020 Toyota AFL Premiership Season.