THE AFL will make a decision this week on whether the 2017 Grand Final will be held at twilight, says CEO Gill McLachlan.

The push to shift the decider from the traditional Saturday afternoon timeslot into a later start has gained momentum over the past few years.

The last four Saturday preliminary finals have been played in the twilight timeslot with great success.

The AFL Commission initially planned to make a decision before the season's start, but it will now be looked at in the lead up to round two.

"We'll deal with that this week," McLachlan said on Monday.

McLachlan is also confident the Gabba will be ready for Saturday night's Brisbane Lions-Essendon clash.

The ground was unavailable to host Saturday's AFLW Grand Final between the Lions and Adelaide, with the match relocated to Metricon Stadium after the Gabba turf was deemed unsafe.

McLachlan, who was livid at the Gabba's ground staff for re-sowing turf after two Adele concerts earlier this month, said the AFL understood this week's match would go ahead as scheduled.

"I haven't heard anything else, so yes," he said.

The AFL broke the all-time single round attendance record on the weekend, with more than 400,000 fans pouring into grounds around the country.

McLachlan said it was "a great weekend of football.

"I think the evenness is clearly very important and we saw a number of upsets on the weekend," he said.

"All of the supporters going to the game knowing their team is a chance to win is incredibly important."

McLachlan also said the inaugural AFLW competition, won by the Crows on Saturday, had exceeded expectations, with the AFL to look at expanding the number of teams and introducing more finals in 2018.