Luke Hodge is not very happy with the AFL decision. Credit:Getty Images He went onto Twitter only a few minutes after the AFL officially announced the ban, saying: "No 3rd man ???? Ridiculous". Fairfax Media understands that the notion of banning third man up had been close for several years, but there was a belief that it helped to clear congestion, which is another much-debated topic in the game. Some clubs used the third man up as a tactic. It was made famous by Hawthorn during their triple premiership onslaught, with Jordan Lewis – now at Melbourne – often used in the role to reduce the impact of the opposition ruckman.

Once the league was handed empirical evidence that the tactic didn't help to reduce congestion the decision was made easier for the laws of the game committee to advise the AFL commission of their feelings. "Two years ago it was on our radar," AFL football operations chief Mark Evans told Fairfax Media. "We did analysis across 2015 and 2016 and, for the game's sake, there seems to be no discernable benefit to congestion, whether there was third man up or a contest between two ruckmen. "The tactic was used offensively and defensively, and ended up in a null result. In terms of clearance rates and scores from stoppages it doesn't provide the benefit for the game that people thought it did." The AFL charter designed for the laws of the game committee has a guiding principle that "players of all sizes, football and athletic ability have the opportunity for success in the game played at the highest level".

Several members of the committee believed that continuing to allow the third man up would take away from the significance of ruckmen in the game. Evans confirmed that the previous belief within the AFL was that the third man up allowed the game to continue to flow. That has now been proven wrong by new data gained by the league. "In 2013 and 2014 there was this anecdotal belief that it resulted in more clearances and more scores," Evans said. There also will be a stricter interpretation of the deliberate-rushed-behind rule next season. The AFL said it will include three points: whether the player had prior opportunity to dispose of the ball; the distance of the player from the goal or behind line; and the degree of pressure being applied to the player.

In terms of the high-tackle rule, the AFL said the first assessment for umpires will continue to be whether the tackle was applied appropriately. "Umpires will be asked to call play on when a tackle is assessed as reasonable (no swinging arm or contact being incidental) and the player with the ball is responsible for the high contact," the league said in a statement. "It is important to note that at all times the ball carrier retains protection against high or indiscriminate tackling." Players handing out "tummy taps" also will be viewed more harshly by officials. The AFL said its match review panel will "apply a stricter interpretation of impact for intentional strikes to the body where the force of the strike warrants a suspension".

Under the new guidelines a player like Gold Coast star Tom Lynch, who escaped suspension after he gut-punched Sydney's Jeremy Laidler in round 11 this year, would be handed a one-week ban rather than a $1500 fine.