AFL boss Gillon McLachlan wants to keep shaking things up, saying he’d like to host a Thursday night game in week one of the finals.

The league has introduced a controversial end-of-season bye this year, with a recent poll revealing all 18 coaches are against the idea.

The AFL also trialled a regular Thursday night match in rounds 14-17.

McLachlan is keen to extend the experiment in September, but concedes it will depend on a number of factors.

“I’d like to have a Thursday night final,” McLachlan said on Monday.

“It will depend on the final configurations of the games.

“Having not just match-ups and venues that work, but also making sure the other match-ups mean … we have the breaks (between week one and two of the finals) roughly matching up.”

North Melbourne are essentially guaranteed to finish eighth, but every other spot in the top eight is up for grabs.

There is a possibility the finals will start with four games outside Victoria.

If the ladder remains as is then Sydney, Adelaide, West Coast and Greater Western Sydney will host finals.

As well as the post-season bye, it would mean a September fortnight with no football in Melbourne.

McLachlan isn’t worried.

“We’re a national competition. There will be finals in Victoria unless something extraordinary happens,” he said.

“I don’t mind where the finals are as long as they’re good games.

“It’s incredibly exciting. I have no idea what’s going to happen, what the final configuration is going to be.

“It’s impossible to work out … it’s the first time it’s been like that in my time in football.”