While the controversial concept has been the subject of much debate, North Melbourne was the first Victorian team to support the initiative.
A year ago, Brent Harvey donned a special jumper with his name on the back for an article in The Age.
''All the sports I watch, they all have their names on the back,'' he said at the time.
''It's not so much for guys like myself who have been around a long time - people know who we are.
''But there are so many players who swap and change teams now with free agency ? guys getting delisted, new guys getting drafted, rookies getting promoted - just the change of numbers through the season - I reckon the fans would appreciate it.''
On Friday, Harvey’s wish came to fruition.
"The tradition in our game is incredibly important and we want to see what the reaction is, even though it's got strong support from our clubs,” AFL Deputy Chief Executive Gillon McLachlan said.
"It's about actually having our players clearly identified to all our fans.
"We've got 80-odd players coming into our game every year, and … we're obviously clearly trying to grow the game in New South Wales and Queensland, as well as in the new communities [that are] part of the third wave of immigration.
"So there's a lot of people we're trying to educate about who our players are generally.”
