AFL Riverina this week endorsed two new AFL Laws of the Game for the Riverina and Farrer Leagues, a month out from the season:

Ryan Dedini, the Riverina Umpires Association president, says the whistleblowers will be ready.

"We hit the ground running pretty much when the AFL brought the rule changes in... so our guys have had a couple of weeks to prepare prior to AFL Riverina announcing the rule change Wednesday evening," Dedini said.

"Most of our guys have been along to the sessions and got their head around it and I suppose the bonus is the pre-season games give clubs and umpires the chance to work together to smooth out any issues."

Consistency will be key with the Standing the Mark rule but Troy Mavroudis, the AFL umpiring coordinator for ACT and regional NSW, believes it's a positive change.

"The goal is to give more balance between attack and defence," Mavroudis said.

"It should give players more space to open up play and a lot of that centres around the ability to bring the ball back into the corridor and things like that. We're really excited about it.

"I think even at community football there's a huge amount of scope to make play a bit more exciting and maybe increase scoring."

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Mavroudis said it's important for grassroots competitions to align as closely as possible to elite competitions, for players, umpires and spectators.

Dedini, who is also the AFL Riverina umpires coach lead, said the umpires are keen to work closely with clubs and prioritise communication about the rule before, during and after games.

"Clubs and coaches are getting on the front foot, getting in contact and are positive about the rule changes. They're more concerned about how we're going to implement them," Dedini said.

"That, for us, means getting out and getting involved at pre-season training. AFL Riverina have sent the same rule sheets and video links (to umpires and clubs) so everyone has the same information and should be on the same page.

"Going into round one through to say round three, we'll guide our guys into really having that communication with the players and the coaches and making the effort before and after the game to have a chat... and explaining to players if we have to pay a 50 for movement by the man on the mark, why we paid that 50."

Dedini said more clubs in recent years have taken up the RUA's offer to attend training sessions and believes continuing to build those relationships is critical.

The Association is just as keen to welcome new members and potential umpires to their own session. They're training at 6pm Wednesdays at the Jim Elphick Tennis Centre at Bolton Park. Registration and more information is available at umpire.afl

The standing on the mark rule won't apply in Wagga and District or South West Juniors competitions, however those leagues will employ the 15m kick in rule in most age groups.

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