THE FINAL eight is here to stay - for now.

The AFL announced on Wednesday that it has resisted the temptation to increase the number of teams qualifying for the finals, and will keep the current final eight system for at least the next two seasons.

Despite the addition of an 18th team to the competition in 2012, the 22-matches per club home and away fixture is also certain to remain until the end of 2013.

The four-week NAB Cup has survived too, albeit in a slightly different form.

League chief operating officer Gillon McLachlan said the AFL Commission approved the executive's recommendation to stick with the current finals and home and away models at a meeting last Friday.

"The introduction of the new teams in the Gold Coast Suns and the GWS Giants, combined with the creation of a new match schedule for the broadcasting of games within the next five-year television contract, has introduced significant new complexity into the fixture process," he said.

"It was therefore recommended there be no change to the existing 22-round home and away season."

McLachlan said the fixture process would be focussed on maximising exposure for all teams.

"The AFL will have an increased focus on fixture optimisation, and will look closely at on and off-field equalisation across all of the 18 clubs," he said.

The retention of the final eight is a win for football followers, who rejected the idea of an extended finals series when surveyed by afl.com.au last year.

Of more than 4200 responses to the survey, 69 per cent of fans were in favour of keeping the status quo, with 16.5 per cent supporting an expansion to a final 10 and the remaining 14.5 per cent suggesting other options.

McLachlan said the decision taken reflected this feedback, but the AFL remained open to again looking at the fixture and finals system structure in the future.

The tweaked NAB Cup pre-season format will see a repeat of this season's six groups of three shortened pool matches in a lightning-style first round.

However, rather than reverting to a knockout format from round two, all teams will play full-scale matches in rounds two and three.

These matches will be scheduled no later than November the previous year, allowing teams to better prepare for and promote their games, and will continue to be played at a mixture of metro and regional venues.

The two best performed teams from the opening three rounds will then play off in the NAB Cup grand final, with the other 16 clubs to play another full-scale practice match at a home and away season venue.

As many clubs as possible will have this last match scheduled in their home state.