Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick and Sydney coach Dean Cox believe the pre-AFL finals bye should be moved to the week before the AFL Grand Final.

The league introduced the pre-finals bye for the 2016 season to ensure clubs continued to field their strongest teams before the completion of the home-and-away campaign.

In 2016, the Western Bulldogs were the beneficiaries of the week off, helping welcome back a host of key players as they went on to end a 62-year premiership drought.

No team had made a grand final since the turn of the century from outside the top four up until the Bulldogs' triumph.

Bulldog legend John Schultz passes aged 85
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 01: (L-R) John Schultz, Luke Beveridge, Senior Coach of the Bulldogs, Robert Murphy of the Bulldogs and Easton Wood of the Bulldogs celebrate during the 2016 Toyota AFL Grand Final match between the Sydney Swans and the Western Bulldogs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on October 01, 2016 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Media/Getty Images)

GWS (2019) and the Bulldogs again (2021) made the deciders but failed to lift the cup.

Brisbane was the latest to join the Whitten Oval club by winning the flag outside the top four.

Before the pre-finals bye was introduced, top-four teams went out in straight sets five times this century, compared with eight times since the pre-finals bye was introduced.

So Hardwick and Cox came up with a solution to place it in between the preliminary final and grand final.

"It's a no-brainer for mine," Hardwick said.

"Personally, it's the perfect time. That way, you can have your Brownlows, All-Australians, celebratory things that we actually want to sit there and celebrate in that period.

Damien Hardwick reportedly eager to add ex-disciple to Suns' coaching staff
GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 21: Damien Hardwick speaks at a Gold Coast Suns AFL press conference announcing his signing as the new coach at Heritage Stadium on August 21, 2023 in Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

"And to be fair, the grand final teams should be lauded. I think what happens is that we sort of forget that it's an amazing achievement just to make a grand final.

"So the more those sides can bask in that, for me, the better."

Cox shared the same sentiment on Fox Footy's AFL360 earlier in the week.

"The pre-finals bye should go before the grand final. The top-four teams that have spent the duration of the season being the best teams should get the best chance to proceed through to the finals they go," Cox said.

"Since the pre-finals bye has come in, the differential has been so great."