AFL football will return to Albury's Lavington Sportsground next year as it edged out Wagga and Narrandera to host a NAB Challenge pre-season game.

AFL released its NAB Challenge schedule on Tuesday where it announced that exciting AFL club Port Adelaide will go up against Richmond at Lavington Sportsground on Saturday March 14.

It will be a welcome return to AFL football in Albury with the city last playing host to a pre-season game in 2012 when Greater Western Sydney took on Gold Coast Suns.

Wagga has played host to the last two games over the past two years, while AFL NSW-ACT officials also hope to return the game to Narrandera Sportsground, as early as 2016.

It means that Wagga may not see another pre-season game until 2017, at the earliest.

AFL NSW-ACT general manager Craig Bolton was pleased to see a NAB Challenge game again being hosted in the Southern NSW region.

"After a game at Robertson Oval in Wagga (this) year it is fantastic to again see Southern NSW hosting a NAB Challenge match in 2015, with Richmond to play Port Adelaide in Albury," Bolton said.

"The region obviously has a strong AFL following and we believe this match at Lavington Sportsground will generate a lot of interest and should be a great event.

"The NAB Challenge concept is a fantastic way to bring AFL content to regional areas of Australia and we'll continue to explore opportunities in Southern NSW in future years."

Albury's game will be one of six pre-season games to be held across NSW and the ACT.

Three games will be held in Sydney, one in Canberra, one in Coffs Harbour and one in Albury.

Bolton is thrilled for NSW-ACT football fans.

"Having six games spread across six venues is a fantastic result for AFL in NSW/ACT, and it's especially exciting to be taking elite level football to regional areas," Bolton said.

"The NSW and ACT NAB Challenge fixturing provides a great mixture of matches at facilities that regularly host AFL matches, such as Star Track Oval in Canberra and Spotless Stadium in Western Sydney, along with smaller venues that aren't normally exposed to top-flight football.

"The concept of playing pre-season games in regional areas is something I strongly support, and the benefits these games will provide those areas are countless."

The weekend of March 14-15 will be a busy couple of days for the Riverina sporting community.

With the NAB Challenge game at Albury on Saturday, the $100,000 Country Championship heat will be held at Murrumbidgee Turf Club on the Sunday.

It will follow on from a Sheffield Shield game at Wagga in February.