FORMER Greater Western Sydney and Western Bulldogs forward Tom Boyd has backed Jason Horne-Francis to make the right decision for his career, after the 2021 No.1 pick requested a trade from North Melbourne.

Last Sunday, Horne-Francis requested a trade to South Australia after a difficult first season in the league, opting to return home instead of seeing out his contract at the Kangaroos.

Boyd, however, is familiar with the situation the young midfielder faces, having been the last No.1 draft pick to request a trade after only one year in the league when he moved from the Giants to the Bulldogs in 2014.

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Speaking to AFL.com.au's Sarah Olle and Josh Gabelich on Continental Tyres AFL Trade Radio, the now retired key forward weighed in on the situation, believing "he will be just fine" if he has sound advice coming from those in his corner.

"Players do have the right to make decisions that they deem best for their overall career," Boyd said.

"Football is a short game. The average career span is three-and-a-half years and you do need to capitalise financially and in a sense accomplish as much as you can in that short period.

"I think, as long as he has sound advice around him and people in his corner that are telling him the harsh truths about the fact that being traded as the no.1 pick, such as I was, does come with certain burdens and challenges. 

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"As well as ultimately some successes, in my case, and also some opportunity. I think he will be just fine."

When asked if he would have a recommendation for the 19-year-old and what he ends up doing, Boyd remained steadfast in the belief Horne-Francis must make the call that's best for his career.

However, the 2016 Premiership player acknowledged that being a top draft pick does come with increased expectations and challenges.

"I don't have any recommendations either way. I think for me, it really just comes down to making the best decision that you possibly can," Boyd said.

"One of the things that surprised me in a sense, you do have a certain level of expectation just being the No.1 pick, that comes with the territory.

"But when you do make a deal that, let's say, upsets a few people and particular football loyalists in the world who believe players should hold this genuine loyalty and stay as a one-club player, which obviously flies in the face of clubs willing to cut you at a moment's notice. 

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"I think from that perspective, it's important to remember you have to be making the decisions for the right reasons... It certainly does come with added responsibility and added challenges."

Horne-Francis isn't the only first-round draft pick looking for a move this Continental Tyres Trade Period, with Collingwood's Ollie Henry and GWS' Tanner Bruhn also looking for a fresh start at Geelong.

Boyd believes "players have had their eyes opened" to the negotiating power they hold with clubs, while giving an insight into his own experiences during the 2014 trade period which saw him secure his move to Whitten Oval.

"If you are 18 years-old and someone offered you seven million bucks to move from a club that had won three games in my first season or something like that, what would you do?" Boyd said.

"This is the great misconception of the difference between people thinking of AFL footballers as footballers, as supposed to people and they are trying to genuinely make their lives better.

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"And in some cases it genuinely affects their family's lives, it affects their future overall. I don't feel like, particularly for players who were taken very high in the draft, that there is a to-and-fro and there's a tension between what the club provides for them and what the players themselves are destined to contribute.

"I don't think we are in the day and age where you can just accept the fact that your players you drafted are just going to stay because you drafted them anymore, because players have had their eyes opened.

"My deal was one of the first where really we entered into the trade period knowing we had leverage... Liam Pickering, my manager, was masterful in leveraging and balancing the tension between upsetting the Giants that out of spite they'd get me, but also putting them under as much immense pressure as possible to put them in a position where they had to accept the trade offer that was on the table.

"Walking that fine line is a really important part, because the worst possible situation Jason could find himself in is having upset North Melbourne or their supporters and having to play the following 12 months at that footy club and not being able to perform to the best of his ability, based on having put himself in a situation where there's a significant amount of roadblocks that weren't there this year on top of the challenges he's already had to face."