Under the AFL's new six-six-six rule, teams that seek to protect a lead by placing multiple extra players behind the ball to protect a lead late in the game will concede a 50m penalty in addition to a free kick.

The addition of the 50m penalty will be included as part of the rule to prevent teams from deliberately conceding the free but still positioning themselves - with extra players in defence - so that the opposition finds it harder to score.

Clubs will concede a 50m penalty on top of a free kick if they flood back at centre bounces. Credit:AAP

The additional 50m penalty would be applied if teams were intentionally putting those extra players back - rather than just having one extra player misplaced in the defensive half in order to protect a lead.

One scenario raised at club level was that a team with a lead of eight points with a minute left could put three or four players behind the ball at a centre bounce.