The AFL today wrote to all clubs to advise it would continue its trial of the size of the protected area around the mark at 10 metres through the upcoming final weekend of matches in the NAB Challenge, and intended to go forward with its introduction for the 2016 Toyota AFL premiership season.

AFL General Manager Football Operations Mark Evans said the AFL had consulted with all clubs over the last fortnight and the move to the larger protected area, to assist the player with the ball to decide his attacking options, had broad support.

“It is the general view that the ability of teams to move the ball has improved with the larger protected area,” Mr Evans said.

“There has been good support for the change across the spectrum of clubs and the focus for the umpiring department will continue to be to ensure it is adjudicated consistently,” he said.

As part of moves outlined late last year, this year’s NAB Challenge matches have also seen umpires given a stricter adjudication of tackles with a lifting, slinging or rotating technique, along with stricter interpretation of deliberate out of bounds.

“Both interpretations of stricter guidelines around dangerous tackles and deliberate out of bounds have had good support and we have seen that tackling techniques have altered significantly,” he said.

In September last year the Commission approved a reduction in the cap on interchange rotations for the 2016 Premiership Season, with the use of the substitute player removed, returning to four interchange players, while the cap will be lowered to 90 rotations per match.