AFL to trial four umpires again

The AFL will use the next three bye weekends to trial four field umpires in each match.

Some umpires will work a Friday night game and then on Sunday to see how they double up.

There will be six games per weekend for the next three rounds, making it the ideal time to experiment with one extra field umpire per match.

The league experimented with four field umpires last year and again during this pre-season.

Umpires boss Hayden Kennedy said the aims of the trial were to see how they positioned themselves on the ground and whether the extra official helped their decisions.