The AFL will crack down on dangerous tackles and deliberate out of bounds as part of stricter interpretations to be trialled during the pre-season.
The league officially launched the NAB Challenge today, taking football to 21 regional and metropolitan centres across the country.
The competition kicks off in Sydney on Saturday, February 20, with the Swans to take on Port Adelaide at Blacktown.
AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan said the pre-season competition will allow fans from right around Australia access to elite level football.
“Footy is back in 2016 and the NAB Challenge really signifies the start of the year for fans as they will have the opportunity to witness their favourite players in their own backyards,” he said.
“We know fans have an enormous affinity with their community grounds, so it’s great that they’ll be able to see their heroes up close.”
A number of unique pre-season rules will apply again this year, including nine points being awarded from supergoals kicked from outside the 50m arc.
Meanwhile the AFL has asked umpires to police a stricter interpretation of free kicks for lifting, slinging, driving or rotating tackles with excessive force, as well as being more stringent on awarding free kicks against players who deliberately knock the ball out of bounds.
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