West Coast’s pre-season schedule has changed after the League announced a revised model for the AAMI Community Series.
The Eagles were set to host St Kilda on February 19 at Leederville Oval before taking on Fremantle in the final round one warm-up game on Sunday, March 7 in Mandurah.
But now the club will take on the Dockers in a practice match, to be scheduled by the AFL, during the last week in February.
The two teams will decide on the format of the practice game, including the number of players, periods of play and their duration.
Each AFL team will now only play one AAMI Community Series game between Wednesday, March 3 and Sunday, March 7.
The format of those matches will be a replica of the home and away season, with a minimum of seven days between each club’s practice match and League-sanctioned pre-season game.
AFL Executive General Manager Clubs and Broadcast Travis Auld said the while the AAMI series was intended to feature each club playing two matches over three weeks the revised model would reduce interstate travel prior to the season.
“In addition to ensuring we continue to prioritise the health of our players, staff, and the wider community, this arrangement provides clubs with the ability to determine individual requirements, allowing clubs and players to best prepare for the season ahead,” Auld said.
The updated fixture and ticketing arrangements will be advised in due course.
All AAMI Community Series games will be broadcast live on Fox Footy, Kay and the Official AFL Live App.