The medical substitute issue is expected to again be raised next month but the agenda for the meeting has yet to be finalised.

The new standing-the-mark rule was also a point of debate through the season and is likely to be a point of discussion next month. It was seen as a way to help open up play through the corridor and increase scoring because it did not allow the man on the mark to close the angle of the kick if taken at half-back or on the wing.

Port Adelaide premiership player Kane Cornes, now a commentator, has been a vocal critic of the rule. He has argued it turned the match briefly into an 18-on-17-player contest, had everyone tired of hearing umpires yell “stand” and did nothing to improve scoring. The average score this year was 79.7, compared with 75.8 in shortened quarters last season, and, perhaps worryingly, 80.2 in 2019.

As the season unfolded, it also became clear coaches had instructed their players to not even man the mark, depending on where the ball was.

The holding-the-ball interpretation is another issue industry figures would like discussed.

Senior coaches Damien Hardwick, Brett Ratten (after his side won only three free kicks from 86 tackles against Geelong) and Chris Fagan, and Port Adelaide veteran player Travis Boak were among those through the season who said prior opportunity was causing too much confusion and suggested it be scrapped.

Fagan, who is a competition committee member, said in May that players who did not handball or kick the ball after they were tackled should be immediately penalised. Hardwick said scrapping prior opportunity, forcing players to even tap the ball forward, would also probably ease congestion.

Amid fears the tackler was too often being rewarded, there was another flashpoint when an umpire paid a free kick to Brisbane’s Jarryd Lyons against Essendon’s Andrew McGrath when the emerging Bomber was contesting the ball. This led to league greats Leigh Matthews and David Parkin being critical of the philosophical change in interpretation.

The competition committee also has fixturing, game analysis and the industry workforce model, the latter attempting to help keep costs under control, as part of its remit.

Frequent subs through 2021:

Player Club Starting Sub (number of times)

Connor Blakely (Fremantle) 7

Sam Mayes (Port Adelaide) 5

Jack Bytel (St Kilda) 5

Martin Frederick (Port Adelaide) 4

Quinton Narkle (Geelong Cats) 4

Tom Berry (Brisbane Lions) 3

Jack Ross (Richmond) 3

Tanner Bruhn (GWS Giants) 3

Rory Atkins (Gold Coast Suns) 3

Ben Long (St Kilda) 3

Zac Langdon (West Coast Eagles) 3

Marc Murphy (Carlton) 3

Callum Brown (Collingwood) 3

Nick Holman (Gold Coast Suns) 3