Australian rules is played by hand and foot, but the AFL in 2024 is set to be an arm-wrestle as administrators, players, clubs and fans seek to shape the game.

Last season was rightfully regarded as one of the best ever, with record crowds and an exhilarating grand final won by Collingwood. The AFL revealed a surplus of $28m in its annual reporting, locked in a pay deal with players and transitioned to a new CEO.

But AFL House is busier than ever. The league’s lengthy to-do list this year includes revising its illicit drugs policy, reviewing the AFL’s competitive tensions and continuing to address growing concerns around concussion. It has declared it wants to double the number of participants over the next decade, with a particular focus in New South Wales and Queensland. And it wants to avoid distractions.

At a press conference in Sydney to launch the season on Wednesday, the AFL chief executive, Andrew Dillon, was bombarded with questions about the seven-match suspension to St Kilda defender Jimmy Webster and the outburst from North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson after the concussion of Jy Simpkin on the weekend.

But Dillon tried to stick to the AFL’s narrative. “Look, whenever we play footy games there are incidents that come out of them, but what we want to focus on is a really exciting opening round,” Dillon said.

The AFL’s inaugural “Opening Round” – where four matches in New South Wales and Queensland lead into traditional round one fixtures in Victoria next week – is a shot in the arm for the northern clubs, although there has been pushback from some in Victoria. That tension is just one set to play out in 2024.

The way the game handles players taking illicit drugs like cocaine and MDMA has long been a point of contention. The policy, last updated in 2015, involves three so-called “strikes”, while players with drugs in their system can avoid being publicly identified as they seek help.

However, the AFL’s approach has taken on new significance with Melbourne player Joel Smith being accused of trafficking or attempted trafficking of cocaine by Sports Integrity Australia.

The game’s collective bargaining agreement, struck last year and running until 2027, requires the AFL to develop a “revised” illicit drugs policy this year. It’s not the only commitment that the players secured from the AFL as part of CBA negotiations.

A competitive balance review, which will look into the relative advantages and disadvantages of each club, including their markets, cost of living, academies, draft concessions and travel, is now under way.

Even though such discussions might traditionally be the domain of clubs, the AFL Players Association (AFLPA) felt it was important enough to include in CBA negotiations given players drafted to floundering clubs may not enjoy the same opportunities as others.

“These innate differences impact clubs’ abilities to attract, retain and provide a platform for players and staff to succeed in their jobs,” said the AFLPA general manager of players relations, Brett Murphy.

“Instead of applying Band-Aid fixes, like adding or removing player movement restrictions, or allowances for specific clubs, we need to look at a holistic review so we can come up with a designated strategy to allow equal opportunities across the board that goes beyond broader equalisation.”

Terms of reference are currently being discussed, and clubs have been asked to provide input. The scope of work will be confirmed by the middle of the year, with the review completed by 2025.

“While football has never been better on the field, and we understand it’s the AFL and the Commission’s job to run the competition, hopefully this provides a platform to look deeper into the reasons why some clubs are better placed to succeed than others,” Murphy said.

Already clubs have expressed their views publicly. The Gold Coast chief executive, Mark Evans, said this week he wants everything on the table, even the AFL recognising the advantage Victorian clubs enjoy by having the grand final at the MCG. Other clubs have taken aim at the Suns after the club was able to draft four academy players in the first round of last year’s draft.

“We’ll get a better sense of the balance that might be required, and maybe stop some of the arguments about if someone’s got a small win somewhere, it might be just a partial offset of a bigger disadvantage,” Evans said.

Off the field and on it, the game is in flux. The AFL has implemented more than 30 rule changes in recent years, designed largely to improve player safety. The most prominent off-season example has been to the smother, putting a greater obligation on defending players to avoid head contact with kickers.

Collingwood’s Brayden Maynard avoided suspension for a misjudged smother in last year’s qualifying final that left Melbourne’s Angus Brayshaw concussed. Brayshaw retired in the off-season due to fears for his brain.

The crackdown is directly linked to the growing awareness around the risk of brain trauma. The AFL is currently involved in a class action brought by former players, who are seeking compensation for alleged historical failures to appropriately manage risks of head injuries. Last year’s inquest into the death of former Richmond player Shane Tuck recommended the AFL develop rules that limit contact training by the start of the 2025 season. The AFL announced on Wednesday its concussion protocols would be largely – but not completely – brought in line with AIS guidelines released in January.

Another set of recommendations from outside the AFL ecosystem also threatens to impact the code. A federal parliamentary inquiry last year called for gambling advertising in Australia to be curbed. The government is widely expected to introduce laws in the coming months that limit betting ads, impacting revenues of television companies, and potentially impairing future broadcast revenue.

Although it has financial implications for the AFL, such a change is likely to be well received by fans. Justin Leckie from the AFL Fan Association said the pervasiveness of betting advertising had been one of the major complaints of Australian rules supporters in recent years. Yet he says other issues, including the low supply of grand final tickets for club members, the floating fixture – where late round matches aren’t confirmed until mid-season – and hasty rule changes are fans’ primary concerns.

“Fans are resistant to rule changes on the whole,” Leckie said. “So anything that comes up and plays with the fabric of the game, most times fans will say, ‘just leave it alone and let the game play out’.”

• The AFL 2024 season starts on Thursday 7 March when Sydney host Melbourne at the SCG. The AFLW season will start in the last weekend of August.