West Coast want to unfurl their premiership flag ahead of a blockbuster grand final rematch with Collingwood at Optus Stadium in round two next season.

And Fremantle have requested a home season-opener against John Worsfold’s Essendon to mark their 25th anniversary next year.

The Dockers are due to start next season at Optus Stadium as part of the recent rotational arrangement with the Eagles and are adamant they will not budge, despite West Coast’s premiership win.

It means the Eagles will begin their premiership defence on the road, before a marquee home fixture the following week.

West Coast chief executive Trevor Nisbett said the club accepted they would have to wait until round two to show off their fourth flag and called for a rematch of one of the great grand finals.

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“That would be perfect for us. But it will obviously be up to the AFL as to how that fits in with Collingwood as well,” Nisbett said. “Our fixture requests were already in. But sometimes the AFL will fixture the previous year’s grand finalists and that would be special if that happened.”

West Coast have played the Magpies eight times in finals, more than any other opponent, and last month’s epic grand final has cemented the rivalry as one of the Eagles’ most significant.

Richmond and Adelaide staged a rematch of their 2017 decider at Adelaide Oval on a Thursday night in round two this year.

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The Eagles’ surprise premiership has boosted their appeal for the marquee TV slots ahead of the release of the 2019 AFL fixture at the end of this month.

While both WA clubs prefer home games on Friday and Saturday nights, Nisbett confirmed West Coast had agreed to cop one five-day break as part of a plan for a big increase in the number of Thursday night matches.

There is likely to be at least 10 Thursday night games next season after the AFL Players’ Association this week gave the go ahead to the plan to increase scheduling flexibility for the best teams.

The Eagles are expected to feature prominently when it comes to Thursday and Friday night scheduling, given their new appeal and the AFL’s preference to stage Thursday night footy outside of Victoria.

Camera Icon West Coast want a grand final rematch for their 2019 home opener. Credit: Getty Images

The Dockers have been banished from the prime Friday night slot since 2016 on the back of their poor results.

Nisbett said West Coast would accept playing off a five-day break into a Thursday night game as long as it was at home. “You could do it once during the year and I think a lot of the clubs will have to put their hand up to say we’re prepared to do it,” he said.

“But as long as that’s off an away game. I’d hate to be going into an away game on a Thursday night, that’s almost impossible for us.”

The Dockers have asked to play the Bombers as part of their 25th anniversary celebrations because Essendon was the first team they hosted, at the WACA Ground, in 1995. Fremantle are expected to bring back the anchor as part of a special retro guernsey for the game.

The AFL is also facing a delicate decision on when to schedule next season’s first western derby, now Andrew Gaff has re-committed to the Eagles.

The league has the option of scheduling a derby for round three, coinciding with Gaff’s return from his suspension.

A Gaff derby comeback would create significant interstate interest and could help the western derby receive a free-to-air national TV slot for the first time in more than a decade. However, engineering a return for Gaff against Fremantle could leave the AFL open to criticism it was exploiting the violence that marred this year’s showdown.