BACK FOR ANOTHER SEASON: Nadeen Payne will be part of the Bendigo Spirit's 2017-18 WNBL campaign, which begins in Canberra on Friday, October 6. The Spirit's 21 regular-season games are crammed into 86 days.

THE Bendigo Bank Spirit will play three of its 10 WNBL home games on Thursday nights this upcoming season.

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The 2017-18 fixture was released on Wednesday and also has the Spirit slated to play its final regular season game on New Year’s Eve.

In what’s a revamped WNBL season that will return to television on Fox Sports in a significant step forward for the league, the Spirit will play its 21 regular season games in an 86-day period between October 6 and December 31.

The fixture includes three Thursday night matches at the Bendigo Stadium against Sydney Uni (November 9), Canberra (December 14) and Dandenong (December 21), all starting at 7pm.

“The Thursday night games are something a bit different... the shortening of the season and the league coming back onto Fox Sports has had a fair bit to do with the fixturing,” Spirit general manager Adam Tarr said.

“Stadium availability across the league also presents a challenge, but hopefully, we can get our fans to come out on a Thursday night and enjoy the WNBL during the week.”

The WNBL play-offs – which the Spirit has missed for the past two seasons – will run throughout January.

Under the new 21-game regular season format, all eight teams meet each other three times, with Bendigo to play 10 home and 11 away matches.

The Spirit’s breakdown of home matches features three on Thursday night, two Friday night, two Saturday afternoon, two Saturday night and one Sunday afternoon.

Bendigo’s 2017-18 campaign – its 11th WNBL season – will begin with an away game to Canberra on Friday, October 6. It will be the sixth time in the past seven years the Spirit have opened their season interstate.

The Spirit’s final regular season game will be on December 31 at home against Sydney Uni from 2pm.

The Spirit’s two away games against the Adelaide Lightning will be part of a NBL-WNBL double-header.

Bendigo Spirit 2017-18 fixture:

Friday, October 6 – v Canberra (away, 7.30pm).

Friday, October 13 – v Melbourne (away, Geelong, 7.30pm);

Saturday, October 14 – v Perth (home, 3pm).

Thursday, October 19 – v Perth (away, 6.30pm).

Saturday, October 21 – v Adelaide (away, 2.30pm).

Friday, October 27 – v Adelaide (home, 7pm).

Saturday, November 4 – v Melbourne (home, 7pm).

Thursday, November 9 – v Sydney Uni (home, 7pm).

Saturday, November 11 – v Townsville (away, 7pm).