ANOTHER top-five pick, multiple early selections, draft choices spread out over two years, extra picks but with caveats on them, access to a gun player in this year's draft, more list spots.

They are all the possibilities the AFL will have to consider – some more likely than others – when the League's executive makes a decision on its recommendation after North Melbourne's pitch for an assistance package. The recommendation will then be sent to the AFL Commission to decide when it meets at the start of Grand Final week. 

The Kangaroos' delegation, including chief executive Jen Watt, football manager Todd Viney and strategy boss James Gallagher, met with the AFL on Tuesday to put forward their case for help after winning just 12 of their past 84 games since the end of 2019. 

The numbers stack up against other cases of AFL assistance seen in previous seasons, including the Gold Coast's handout in 2019 which saw them land a number of strands to their assistance, including the No.1 pick (Matt Rowell), Academy provisions, a larger list and pre-listing of players. 

What the AFL decides – or decides not – to grant the Kangaroos will be trade and draft-shaping.

Another pick after their first selection (unrelated to the possible Ben McKay free agency compensation pick) would be the highest measure but is not considered to be on the table, with the AFL largely shying away from handing out picks at that stage of the draft since the disbanding of priority picks. 

CEO Jen Watt and president Sonja Hood at a North Melbourne press conference on May 18, 2023. Picture: AFL Photos

Last year's assistance model saw them get given future second- and third-round picks under the criteria they must be used to trade for players. North landed Fremantle pair Griffin Logue and Darcy Tucker with the choices. The Roos were also granted extra rookie list spots to allow them to bring in experienced players around their younger list.

There had been an expectation the rookie list extension would be wound back at the end of this season, however there is now a view it could be continued into next year.

There are more ways the AFL could look at assistance for the Roos. Multiple picks later in the first round or second round could be a consideration, as may be providing picks again with the caveat they needed to be used on trades. 

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Currently North Melbourne holds picks No.2, 16 (tied to Port Adelaide), 39, 53 (tied to Melbourne) and 59, but is set to land Swan Dylan Stephens, who on Thursday told Sydney he would be exploring a trade, and is also in pole position to trade in Carlton's Zac Fisher. Being given more picks to do those deals, while also protecting their current draft hand, would be another option. 

Staggering draft selections over multiple years, as the Suns were afforded across 2019-21, is another lever that could be pulled among the host of mechanisms that have been discussed through ongoing dialogue between the Roos and League in recent months. 

In considering North's request for assistance, the AFL will be walking the fine line of making one club more competitive while attempting not to adversely impact other clubs around it.

It is why there has been a strong reaction from rivals to the Roos' hopes of gaining priority access to gun midfield talent and Larke Medallist Ryley Sanders as part of their push.

Ryley Sanders in action during the U18 Championship match between the Allies and Western Australia at Thebarton Oval on June 11, 2023. Picture: AFL Photos

Sanders, who has an Indigenous background, is yet to be added to the AFL's Next Generation Academy list. Under NGA rules, clubs can't match bids on prospects inside the first 40 picks of the draft, but there has been a view that the Roos could be given access to match a bid at any point for Sanders as part of their assistance package.

However, with just over a week to go before the AFL Commission meets, there is a growing feel among rivals that Sanders, a certain top-10 pick, will more likely be in the open pool. 

North's place within the Next Generation Academy is part of a bigger conversation, with Tasmania currently zoned to the club. But with the Tasmanian AFL licence granted earlier this season, the state will be expected to be developed as its own academy, with the Roos' next zone within the NGA system a part of a wider review currently being undertaken by the AFL on that part of the pathway.

After a bottom-two finish for the fourth straight year, the Roos' trade and draft moves this off-season will be shaped by two calls: McKay's decision and the forthcoming compensation, and the AFL's assistance decision.