Players will still be permitted to acclimatise themselves to match-day conditions before games this year despite the AFL removing one of the pre-game warm-ups.

The League’s match-day running sheet now includes 90-minute windows for ‘individual on-field player access’ for games when there are no curtain-raisers, and 30 minutes when there are.

But all players and coaches and must vacate the ground half an hour before the opening bounce to allow the home teams to stage fan activation events that will run for about 15 minutes.

There had been concerns that clubs, and in particular forwards, would have no opportunity to get used to the conditions, especially in the wind.  

Those fears are now allayed, however what is no longer permitted are the extended team warm-ups, and the various handball, kicking drills and centre square simulation sessions, usually about 45 minutes before the start of the match, which meant, with coaches and support staff included, up to 100 people were scattered all over the ground.

There is one curtain-raiser this weekend – ahead of the Gold Coast-North Melbourne game - but the new pre-game arrangements allow for that number to be increased.

The return of the traditional curtain-raiser is something that many regular match attendees have been requesting from the AFL for many years.