THE AFL will bring forward the All-Australian awards to the Thursday after Round 23 as part of its bid to enliven its new bye round. 
After fixturing a bye in a bid to stop clubs resting players en masse in Round 23, the league is looking to fill in the 10-day break before the first final.
Round 23 will almost certainly finish with a Monday night game on   August 29, before a Thursday night final on   September 8.
The league will launch the finals on Wednesday,   August 31, host the All-Australian awards the next day and stage the new-look E.J. Whitten legends game on the Friday.
On the Saturday of the bye weekend, VFL finals will start. Potentially both Seven and Fox Footy could telecast the Western Bulldogs v Melbourne women's game on the Saturday.
The Rising Star presentation will be on Monday,   September 5. The 10-day gap before the finals could be a significant anticlimax, but the AFL felt the perception of North Melbourne resting nine players in Round 23 last year was too negative.
The AFL MVP Awards will stay on the Tuesday after the first week of finals and Brownlow Medal night will remain in its traditional Grand Final week slot.
The All-Australian awards have been held in preliminary final week. The league refused to talk about its plans yesterday.
"The AFL's plans for the period between Round 23 and week one of the finals series are being developed and will be outlined later in the season," AFL executive Travis Auld said.The Round 23 fixture has a handful of marquee games that could slot into the Friday night and Monday night timeslots.