AFL Victoria will wait until the AFL finals schedule is announced before deciding on its fixture for week one of VFL finals.

The fixture will determine whether clubs with teams in both VFL and AFL finals series can select players in week one of the VFL finals, confident they will have enough time to be ready for the first week of AFL finals if needed.

With a Thursday night final against Adelaide a live possibility the Cats would like at least a Saturday fixture to give any players who represent Geelong's VFL side in the first week of the finals at least five days break between games if they play against the Crows.

The Western Bulldogs also has Footscray in the finals and face the possibility of a Thursday night final if they were forced to travel, although it seems less likely than a potential Adelaide v Geelong match-up.

An AFL Victoria spokesperson told AFL.com.au that while the extra bye and potential for Thursday night football had thrown some complexity into the arrangements, they would do their best when fixturing VFL finals to take into consideration the AFL schedule, as it accounted for the needs of all clubs.

Under VFL rules, the top two teams have a chance to play a home final while finals between teams that finish fifth to eighth are played at North Port Oval.

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Footscray Bulldogs and Geelong sit fifth and sixth with one round remaining.

If a player does not play AFL in round 23 he can represent his club in week one of the finals regardless of how many games he may have played.

This means Geelong and the Western Bulldogs could choose to leave players out of their senior side this week but play them in the first week of VFL finals to gain match fitness ahead of the AFL finals the following week.

Geelong coach Chris Scott said the VFL fixture and rules were relevant to their senior selection decisions for round 23. 

"It is a consideration for us," Scott said.

"The VFL hopefully will think through the fixturing of that first week of finals given that the AFL is committed to a Thursday night final. It would be a considerable disadvantage for example a Melbourne team to play a Sunday VFL game but then be scheduled for a Thursday night game."

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