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Essendon star Dylan Shiel says shortened AFL matches will prolong the careers of the league's best players.

Essendon midfielder Dylan Shiel believes the AFL's shortened matches will see the game's best players feature more and prolong their careers.

Richmond host Carlton at the MCG in Thursday night's AFL season opener, with the new 17-round format set to be played behind closed doors indefinitely with shortened 16-and-a-half minute quarters plus time-on.

Bombers star Shiel, 27, thinks shortened matches will require less training and even allow top players to feature in more games over a season.

"Now it's been forced upon us, I'm actually an advocate for the shorter games, and trying to play as many games as possible," Shiel told RSN.

"We may maintain the weekend format, but the season might be played across 30 weeks, so you're going to see the best players playing more. The shorter games enable that.

"If you're have the best players remain in the game for longer, it's going to increase the quality of the game.

"I think that's the potential outcome if we were to go to shortened matches, but have more games in a season."