The AFL’s controversial shot clock will stay, but players won’t be able to see it tick down in the final two minutes of each quarter.

In changes aimed at curbing the trend where players have slowed matches by running the shot clock down, AFL football operations manager Mark Evans said umpires would also be instructed to give players the hurry-up.

“If the umpire thinks the player is just deliberately delaying starting a proper goal-kicking routine, then the player can be moved on and hopefully that cleans up most things,” Evans said.

“But we’ve put in a double-layer of protection. We’ll take it off the screen in the last two minutes of each quarter for now.”

The AFL were pushed into the move after North Melbourne’s Mason Wood ran the clock down at the end of his club’s round seven win over St Kilda.

With less than 30 seconds on the close and while holding a one-point lead, Wood waited until after the siren sounded before taking his shot at goal.

“We didn’t like the look at the end of the North Melbourne game and have tried to mitigate it,” Evans said.

Evans also indicated the rule would be reassessed at the end of the 2016 season.