THERE will be a shorter post-season period in 2014 after the AFL cut a week off this year's player exchange period.

After reducing last year's trade and free agency period, the League has again slashed it after a lack of activity through the middle stage of the 2013 period.  

As the clubs and AFL look for a swifter post-season, the restricted and unrestricted free agency period will also be cut by four days this year.

It will start on Friday, October 3, and run until Monday, October 13.

Free agency proceedings will again interweave with the trade period, which will start on Monday, October 6 and finish on Friday, October 17.

And in other changes, the NAB AFL Draft is likely to be held on Monday, November 24, with the pre-season and rookie drafts to follow only four days later on Friday, November 28.

In previous years the national draft has been held on a Thursday night, and in 2013 the gap between the drafts was six days.

Delisted free agents will get their chance to find new AFL homes before and after the national draft, with a six-day window running from November 14-19.

There will be another two-day delisted free agency period on November 25-26 ahead of the pre-season and rookie drafts, with clubs' final list lodgement due on December 1.