The AFL wrote to all clubs on Tuesday to advise it would continue its trial of the size of the protected area around the mark at 10 metres through the final weekend of matches in the NAB Challenge, and intended to proceed 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 past 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,” 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.

As part of moves outlined late last year, NAB Challenge matches in 2016 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,” Evans said.