Football operations manager Adrian Anderson made the announcement at the launch of the pre-season NAB Cup competition at Docklands on Wednesday.
The season opener between Collingwood and Adelaide is in the United Arab Emirates this Saturday, with the remaining seven first-round matches played from February 15-17.
Anderson said prizemoney for NAB Cup runners-up had also been raised by more than 50 per cent, from $110,000 to $176,000.
“The NAB Cup and the NAB Challenge are the first opportunities for supporters to have a look at the new players who have come through the NAB AFL Draft as our stars of tomorrow," Anderson said.
“In recent years, the likes of Port Adelaide and Geelong have won NAB Cup titles to build their experience in big matches for their lists, and have then gone on to claim the AFL premiership as their teams have developed.”
The opening match at Ghantoot Polo Grounds in Dubai will be beamed back into Australia on the Seven Network, with all matches in the competition televised by the AFL's broadcast partners - Seven, Ten and Fox Sports.
The NAB Cup and NAB Challenge will again see matches played in areas that do not regularly see AFL football.
NAB Cup matches will be played in Darwin at TIO Stadium, Launceston’s Aurora Stadium and Carrara on the Gold Coast in week one, with a second-round match earmarked for Manuka Oval in Canberra, while NAB Challenge venues will cover Cairns (Qld), Albany (WA), Narrendera (NSW), Alice Springs (NT), Carrara (Qld), Bendigo (Vic), Noarlunga (SA), Manuka Oval (ACT), Shepparton (Vic) and Casey Fields in outer suburban Melbourne.
“The NAB Cup and the NAB Challenge underpin the strength of our game in regional areas, and also enable the AFL to consider rule changes that may benefit our game in the future," Anderson said.
“While there are no rule alterations for the 2008 premiership season, we will continue to look at a number of trials in this year's NAB Cup, including a limit on interchange numbers.”
For the NAB Cup only, each team will be permitted a maximum of 16 interchanges per quarter (64 per game), with the number of interchange players to rise from six to eight players.
One further change to the NAB Cup rules for 2008 is that at centre bounces, a no-go zone for players will be marked on the surface within which players are not to position themselves when the umpire:
a) is preparing to bounce;
b) is in the act of bouncing; or
c) is exiting via his usual exit path from the stoppage.
The no-go zone will be two-metres wide and extending 6.5m out from the centre of the centre circle. A free kick will be awarded against a player who enters this zone behind the umpire during the above-mentioned times.
Please note also that the 2008 NAB Cup will again continue to feature a number of rules specific to this competition only that have applied in recent seasons:
- Kicks must travel 20m for a mark;
- Kicking backwards for a mark only allowed in the forward half of the ground;
- Three points for a deliberate rushed behind;
- Nine points for a goal scored from outside 50m;
- Ball to be thrown up around the ground, and bounced down only at the start of quarters and after goals;
- Play-on if the ball hits the goal or behind post and comes back into the field of play;
- Boundary throw-ins to be taken from 10m inside the boundary line.
