The AFL Umpiring Department will again trial the use of four field umpires over the next three rounds of the AFL bye period, covering rounds 13-15.

The umpiring department trialled four umpires in several games late last season and has also used it in a number of pre-season NAB Cup matches. 

With only six matches per week to be played over the next three rounds as all clubs have one bye in this period, AFL Umpiring Head Coach Hayden Kennedy said the AFL again wanted to see what impact it may have in a premiership season match.

“The umpiring department has used four umpires in a match on a number of occasions to see how the umpires position themselves on the ground and whether we can improve our decisional accuracy,” Kennedy said.

“In this three-week period, with less matches being played, we can again look at what impact it has across all AFL games without stretching the resources of the current senior list.”

Kennedy said the AFL would again examine each umpire’s GPS results to see if there was any indication of whether the umpires could make decisions under less fatigue and are in better positions to make decisions.

He said the group would also trial the capacity of some umpires to double-up across a weekend and officiate in a game both on Friday night and then again on Sunday.