Canberra will be the first to see AFL rogues Brendan Fevola and Barry Hall play for their new clubs when their teams open their 2009 pre-season campaigns at Manuka Oval on February 14.
The capital will get at least two Australian rules fixtures next year after the AFL released its pre-season draw yesterday.
Bad boy Fevola's Brisbane Lions will clash with Hall's Western Bulldogs in the first round of the NAB Cup.
The AFL will release its regular-season draw on Friday with Canberra likely to host the Bulldogs again when they do battle with the Sydney Swans early in the year.
If so, officials will expect a bumper Manuka Oval crowd as Bulldogs recruit Hall takes on his former Sydney teammates.
Fevola was traded by Carlton to the Lions after numerous alcohol-fuelled incidents including his antics at the Brownlow Medal presentation last month.
The Swans will host Carlton at Blacktown Olympic Park on February20 and could play another match there should they reach the semi-finals.
The NAB Cup grand final will be played on March13 at a venue yet to be determined.
It could be the last, with AFL football operations manager Adrian Anderson saying the league is working with clubs to devise a new pre-season format once the Gold Coast enters the competition in 2011. A western Sydney team will join the AFL the following year.
''We've been talking with our clubs about what sort of preparation they require for the season,'' Anderson said. ''That's up for discussion, obviously 17 teams [in 2011] poses a challenge to the format of the competition, it can't be exactly the same.''
Under the current format, clubs knocked out of the main competition play a practice match series at regional venues, an aspect the AFL wants to retain.
One of those games in 2010 will be played in Yea in country Victoria, in support of areas devastated by this year's bushfires.
A future possibility is that the AFL scraps the knockout competition and plays just the practice match series.
''The one thing that we're really keen to preserve, no matter what the format is, is to take games to regional communities,'' Anderson said.
with AAP
PRE-SEASON CUP
AFL at Manuka Oval: Western Bulldogs v Brisbane Lions, Sunday, February 14 at 4.40pm.