IRISH Hawthorn forward Conor Nash has backed calls for Gaelic football clubs that have players poached by AFL teams to be fairly compensated.
North Melbourne's recruitment of Red Óg Murphy late last month brought the number of listed Irish players in the AFL to a record 14.
Nash told the We Are Meath podcast in Ireland that Gaelic clubs deserved payment after developing young prospects.
FULL FIXTURE Every round, every game
"I certainly think there is a case there for some sort of compensation. It certainly has to be the club. I wouldn't think it would be the county board or something like that," Nash said.
"If it was the club, yes, I'd be all for that. If it was the county board as such, probably not.
"I'd love to see it go back right to the roots, because everybody knows that clubs could do with a bit of spare cash every now and then."
However, Nash pointed out a potential complexity with such a system.
"If you look at my situation where I (played Gaelic) football and rugby, do you compensate both of them? Do you compensate one more than the other?" Nash said.
WHO MAKES FINALS? Do the 2019 Ladder Predictor
Nash debuted in round 21 this year and kept his spot for the rest of the 2018 campaign to notch up five games.
In August, he penned a new contract to stay at the Hawks until the end of 2020.
He will be a Category A rookie next season before being promoted.
"Next year, it'll just be like a normal rookie. The second year of the two-year deal, which is 2020, will be the senior list," Nash said.
The 20-year-old will be part of a group of Hawks who take on the Kokoda Trail next week.
"All the young lads and new recruits are going to Papua New Guinea to do this trek, the Kokoda Trek it's called, where the Aussies fought the Japanese in World War Two," Nash said.
TOUGHEST DRAW? Champion Data ranks every club
"It's a 96km trek. It'll be over, I think, four or five days. We'll be over for eight days all up.
"It's meant to be pretty intense but it's just kind of a bonding trip. For Aussies, it's a very special thing to do."
That won't be the end of the Hawks' travelling throughout pre-season.
"We'll come back to Melbourne for a week-and-a-half and train. The older boys will meet up with us again, and then we'll go up to Queensland, up north, to do a hot weather camp by the beach," Nash said.
