The Melbourne Cricket Club and AFL are likely to sign a new deal this week paving the way for two preliminary finals to be played outside Melbourne for the first time.

Representatives of the MCC and the MCG Trust will meet with AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou and chairman Ron Evans on Wednesday.

The MCC is confident they will sign a new contract which will remove the problematic clause requiring at least one preliminary final to be played at the MCG each season.

That long-term arrangement has vexed non-Victorian clubs, which have been disadvantaged by being forced to play "home" finals at the MCG.

Brisbane last year "hosted" Geelong in an MCG preliminary final.

A similar situation will likely occur this year without a change in the contract, given West Coast, Adelaide and Sydney currently occupy the top three positions on the ladder.

But MCC general manager of club operations Trevor Dohnt said there was an expectation that a new deal would be reached in Wednesday's meeting.

"All parties are pretty keen to move forward and sign off on this," Dohnt said.

"The intent is there, it's a matter of fine-tuning the words of the agreement."

Crows chief executive Steven Trigg, whose club has a firm hold on second place and is most likely to benefit from a contract change, urged the AFL to quickly finalise the deal.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP