GREATER Western Sydney's vast academy region is "overkill" and should be cut back, according to Hawthorn list manager Graham Wright.

The Giants' access to top talent in large parts of New South Wales and Canberra has frustrated rivals, with the club set to have another haul of academy prospects at this year's NAB AFL Draft after selecting four local products last season.

The League has flagged it will look to review the Giants' zone and Wright, who has shaped Hawthorn's brilliant premiership success, said the Hawks would support that move. 

"We're pretty big on the fact we feel it's a little bit of overkill," Wright told AFL.com.au's Road to the Draft podcast.

"We feel certainly any of those areas along the Murray that are football heartland – that can be Albury all the way through to Mildura along the Murray there – those regions that actually are part of the TAC Cup … they shouldn't have access to those players.

"That's our feeling."

The Giants have access to a number of prospects who play for the Murray Bushrangers and Bendigo Pioneers in Victoria's TAC Cup competition, with many clubs believing those players should be ineligible to join the club via the academy rules.

Wright suggested that the Giants' zone could be restricted to western Sydney and Canberra.

"The Riverina [region is] a little bit different because it's a bit higher on the map geographically. But potentially if they had Wagga and those areas maybe that's OK. I'm not 100 per cent sure and obviously I'm not part of the decision making in relation to that," he said.

"But from our point of view, western Sydney and maybe Canberra is maybe where it sits [for their academy region]."

GWS picked three academy players in the first round of last year's draft, have Will Setterfield and Harrison Macreadie as likely first-round picks this season and already have a number of exciting players on the radar for next year, including Charlie Spargo and Jarrod Brander.

Wright said all four northern academies had "done a fantastic job" in being able to develop more players but that the Giants' focus should be in other areas of New South Wales and the ACT.

"It's fantastic for footy that GWS is going well, absolutely. But as we said, I think that hotbed of talent they've got exclusive access to means that potentially it continues on and on and on," he said.

"We feel that development of talent probably should be in the western region of Sydney and in the Canberra area."

The Hawks' list boss also shared his views on the 'loophole' that emerged through last year's trade period that saw academy clubs trade down the draft order to accumulate more points to pay for players under the father-son and academy bidding system.

The Sydney Swans were one club to use the tactic, trading back from pick No.14 to gather a handful of picks in the 30s to pay for star midfielder Callum Mills, who attracted a bid from Melbourne at No.3 overall.

Wright cited that example as one that showed the system had problems.

"We didn't like it. Any system that promotes or encourages academy clubs to move out of the first round and nearly out of the second round and still have access to a top-five player is a flawed system, in my view," Wright said. 

"It's the system we've got and we have to work in it, and people were able to manipulate that system and get some good results for themselves. But there was a lot of clubs that were disadvantaged by that actually happening."