Victorian powerhouses Collingwood and Richmond will kick of Round 2 of the season on Thursday, June 11, while fierce rivals Geelong and Hawthorn will battle it out the following night at GMHBA Stadium.

The Showdown in South Australia will also feature in the first week of the restarted season.

West Coast and Fremantle will play Gold Coast and Brisbane respectively with the two West Australian sides set to spend a month in Queensland.

Essendon and North Melbourne will travel to New South Wales to take on Sydney and GWS respectively, while Carlton v Melbourne and St Kilda v Western Bulldogs will be the remaining matches in Round 2.

The AFL will release the times and venues for Round 2 through to Round 5 in the first phase of fixture releases today at 1:00 pm.

The new schedule of matches will be released in four-week blocks, allowing the AFL flexibility to adapt to changing coronavirus restrictions later in the year.

The restart to competition follows weeks of negotiations between the AFL, state governments, health authorities and clubs.

The AFL will attempt to complete a shortened 153-game season before holding a regulation eight-team finals series, with the grand final likely to be played on October 24.