STRICTER rules around 'third man up' ruck contests might help to ensure big men remain in the game, according to AFL football operations boss Mark Evans.

The contentious 'third man up' scenario will be one of several key issues to be discussed at AFL's annual laws summit, to be held on Friday at the NAB AFL Draft in Sydney. 

Evans said the incident that resulted in Sydney ruckman Kurt Tippett suffering a broken jaw in the qualifying final against Greater Western Sydney had "reinvigorated" the 'third man up' debate, with concern over ruckmen being placed in precarious positions. 

"Our game likes diversity in terms of the type of player and size of player. Maybe it's not a bad debating point to see whether this would assist to keep some of the bigger players in the game now that it's become such a big running game," Evans told SEN radio on Wednesday morning. 

AFL.com.au revealed third-man-up duels have increased by about eight per cent over the past four seasons, peaking at 13.2 per cent this year.

Evans believed there had been a misconception about the impact of 'third man up' efforts on the spectacle of the game.

"We looked at 'third man up' two years ago and I tended to think that there were such great clearances that came from (it) that it probably assisted the game to clear the stoppage," he said.

"(But) when you looked at the actual figures, there really wasn't much change.

"'Third man up' is used for two types of tactics: one, to clear the stoppage and, two, to nullify a dominant ruckmen who otherwise would clear the stoppage.

"There didn't seem to be any data that supported either its retention or removal on behalf of the game.

"We let it go across 2015. We had some issues at the start of 2015 with the way it was being umpired and the blocking of the 'third man up', and most of those (issues) had disappeared by the end of 2015."

Evans said the laws summit would also address what constituted correct and incorrect disposal.

"It's probably one of the least understood rules and set of interpretations that we have," he said.

"So much of our game has this grey, interpretative element and one of the things I'd love to say to coaches is, 'Do you want more black and white, or does that actually take it away from what we love about football and the way we've played football?'"

Other agenda items will include the adjudication of deliberate out of bounds, the 10-metre protected area and deliberate rushed behinds.