NORTH Melbourne will no longer have unfettered access to Tasmania's best AFLW draft prospects, with the League set to limit the club's ability to match top-30 bids on its Academy talents from within the state.

It's understood the League wrote to all AFLW clubs late last week announcing the Academy tweak, which comes ahead of Tasmania's impending entry into both men's and women's competitions.

North Melbourne – who entered into the AFLW in 2019 under the name 'North Melbourne Tasmanian Kangaroos' – had previously been able to select and match bids on the state's best junior prospects at any point in the draft.

Gun midfielder Mia King and vice-captain Nicole Bresnehan are just two of the side's best Tasmanian recruits, having been plucked from Launceston and Clarence respectively in recent years.

The Kangas currently have gun Tasmanian defender Mackenzie Williams, seen by recruiters as a potential first-round pick, in their Academy system ahead of this year's AFLW Draft.

However, under the new rulings introduced by the AFL, North Melbourne will subsequently only be able to match any rival's bid on Williams if it falls at pick No.31 or beyond on draft night.

Similar rules are currently part of the men's draft, with clubs unable to match Next Generation Academy bids that fall within the first 40 picks. However, tweaks to enable more access to such players are part of the League's ongoing competitive balance review.

North Melbourne attempted to gain first-access to Tasmanian gun Brooke Barwick as part of its Academy program last year, however the talented midfielder opted to nominate as part of the national pool.

It meant Barwick was eligible to head anywhere on draft night – as opposed to if she'd nominated within the Tasmanian section of the draft, which would have meant she could only go to North Melbourne – and ultimately headed to the Western Bulldogs with the No.4 selection.

The AFL officially announced last month that it would move to a fully national AFLW draft system later this year, moving away from the state-based model that had been part of the competition since its inception.

A pay increase as part of the recently signed Collective Bargaining Agreement, in addition to 69 percent of draftees nominating nationally last year, ultimately predicated the long-awaited move to a fully national system.