From 2014, the AFL abandoned the pre-season premiership, which since 1988 had seen practice matches combined with a (usually knock-out) tournament ending with a winning club.

Known as the 2014 NAB Challenge, the series featured 27 practice matches played over 25 days, beginning 26 February and ending 22 March.

The full fixture was released on Thursday 31 October 2013,[3] and the premiership season was launched at the redeveloped Adelaide Oval in South Australia on 5 March.

[4] Notable features of the draw included: Bold – Home game X – Bye Opponent for round listed above margin

The series was also reduced to a single test match and several rule changes were made so as to enable greater participation from key position players in the AFL.