Boundary umpires will have limited power to pay free kicks in the NAB Cup as the AFL tries to crack down on holding at stoppages.

It is the most striking of four rule changes that the league will introduce for this year's pre-season competition.

The Cup will start on Friday night when West Coast host Essendon at Subiaco Oval.

The AFL wants the boundary umpires to act as back-up for the field umpires at ball-ups around the ground.

"This issue of holding at stoppages is one that coaches and clubs have brought up with us," said AFL operations manager Adrian Anderson.

"We want to trial something in the NAB Cup to see if the boundary umpires can assist in dealing with that issue.

"If there's less holding and grabbing at stoppages, then we'll probably see better footy as a result."

It is the only area of the game where boundary umpires will be able to pay free kicks.

There will be three other rule trials during the Cup:

* The player, not the umpire, will decide whether the advantage rule applies. If a free is paid and a player wants to play on, that will be his call and so his responsibility.

* If a player tries to drag the ball under an opponent to milk a holding the ball decision, he can now receive the penalty instead.

* The "no-go" zone immediately behind an umpire when he bounces or throws the ball up now applies around the ground. Previously, it was only for the centre bounce.

There are no plans to introduce the four new rules for this year's regular season.

In other NAB Cup news, the Western Bulldogs-Brisbane game on Sunday in Canberra is likely to be Brendan Fevola's debut as a Lion.

The Cup will also feature a challenge match on February 27 at Yea in country Victoria, which will also support the areas devastated by last year's Black Saturday bushfires.

The match will be between the losers of the Geelong-North Melbourne and Hawthorn-Richmond round-one games.

Anderson added the league was keen to retain some form of pre-season competition beyond next year, when the current broadcast deal ends.

The league will have to re-cast the season fixture once Gold Coast and the proposed GWS team join the competition in 2011-12.

"It's been such a fantastic competition for us in terms of connecting with the community and taking games to places that haven't had it before and trialling new things," Anderson said.

"We really hope we can retain, with the future format, the ability to do those things."

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