Clubs like Collingwood and Hawthorn will continue to dominate Friday night football in 2013. Picture: Michael Klein Source: Herald Sun
THE AFL's prized Friday night time slot is moving closer to being the exclusive domain of the big-drawing premiership contenders.
It is believed the league fixture, to be released next week, will freeze out struggling Victorian clubs hoping for a slice of prime-time action.
The Herald Sun understands Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs will not have a single Friday night outing next season. In the past it has been an unwritten rule that every Victorian club is awarded at least one Friday night game.
But the AFL has made it clear the position must be earned with on-field performances.
Collingwood, by contrast, is set to play at least seven games in broadcaster Channel 7's key ratings slot.
Premier Sydney, which had only one Friday night game last season, is known to have at least two matches locked in with potentially more to come when the fixture is official.
The Demons had one Friday night game last year - in Round 7 against Hawthorn - and the Western Bulldogs were drawn to play two - against Collingwood in Round 6 and Geelong in Round 9.
Adelaide and Essendon play the first Friday night match of next season in a sign of things to come as big clubs and premiership contenders take the fixturing limelight.
The gap between the Friday night matches against the powers and minnows has been gradually widening.
Geelong had eight Friday night fixtures last season while Carlton had seven.
The next most common Friday night teams were Hawthorn (five games) and Collingwood (five).
The Herald Sun understands there will also be a subtle shift in the strength of Sunday afternoon matches in Melbourne next year.
Collingwood, which in recent years has not featured that prominently on Sundays, is believed to be headed for as many as five games in that time slot next year as the league looks to beef it up and Seven's replay leading into its Sunday night news.
The upside for the lowly clubs from this year, Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs, is the fact they will have only one game against last year's top four and could play the teams surrounding them in last year's bottom four twice.
The AFL will release its 2013 fixture on Wednesday.
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