THE AFL hopes for better decisions and less fatigue when it trials four field umpires in a match this weekend.

Saturday night's Brisbane Lions-Gold Coast clash at the Gabba will be the first time that the number of umpires has been increased from three to four in a regular-season game.

It was trialled this year during the NAB Challenge.

The AFL will probably continue the experiment in several games for the remainder of the 2015 season, using the same four umpires.

"It's certainly an eye to the future," AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan said.

"Umpiring is incredibly important ... can four umpires get better angles and help their ability to make the right decisions?

"The other part is, does it reduce the running burden ... the longevity of our best umpires.

"They may even be able to do two games in a weekend."

Umpiring director Wayne Campbell said the way the game had changed in the last 20 years had prompted the experiment.

"We've got the biggest field in the world and the most participants and pro rata we've probably got the least number of officials," Campbell told ABC Radio.

"We're seeking perfection and we won't ever attain that, given the complexities of the game and the greyness of the rules.

"But when we trialled (it) we, on average, reckon we make about nine errors a game and six of those are missed and three are unwarranted.

"We found in those 12 (pre-season) games those six missed were halved purely by having another set of eyes on the other side of the contest."

The AFL also hopes the change will help extend the careers of the top umpires.

"No doubt, the aim is to get them in better positions and less fatigued," Campbell said.

"The long-term view as well is that it takes an umpire a lot of game practice to become a really, really good umpire - we don't tend to have Grand Final umpires until they've done 200 games.

"We think if they are umpiring more they will get better at it and they will be able to run less, so we'll be able to keep them in the game for more years."