West Coast will have to travel to Melbourne next Friday night if they reach the AFL pre-season final.

The league announced that the final would be at Etihad Stadium, regardless of who plays.

The final will be between the winner of Friday night's game between Essendon and St Kilda and Saturday night's semi-final between the Eagles and Collingwood at Etihad Stadium.

"It was determined that a potential grand final at 5.40pm (Perth time) at Patersons Stadium on late Friday afternoon ... due to the current three-hour time difference to Perth with daylight saving, would present too many logistical difficulties around crowd access (and) public transport," the AFL said in a statement.

The AFL also confirmed the schedule for next weekend's practice matches, with the loser of the Essendon-St Kilda game to play Sydney next Saturday night in Coffs Harbour.

West Coast will play Fremantle next Saturday if they lose to Collingwood, while the Magpies will play Hawthorn in Launceston should they not reach the final.

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