RICHMOND'S bid to move injured defender Graham Polak to its rookie list for the 2009 season has drawn mixed responses from rival clubs.

The Tigers petitioned the AFL on Wednesday to approve a proposal that would see Polak, 24, removed from the senior list while he continues to recuperate from a brain injury suffered in a tram accident in June.

While clubs were supportive of efforts to aid Polak's recovery, as Essendon did with cancer survivor Adam Ramanauskas in 2006, there was some concern about whether the Tigers should be granted a second pick in Tuesday's NAB AFL Pre-Season Draft.

"We have no issue with them doing it, it's just we are not sure they should get a second pick in the pre-season draft," Carlton chief executive Greg Swann told Thursday's Herald Sun.

"Should they get a nominated rookie or another pick in the pre-season draft?

"If you give Richmond another pick, they might pick a bloke that Melbourne wanted in the rookie draft (in which it has the first pick overall) and maybe that isn't fair.

"Then again is a pre-season pick the only way for them to have a full list? We need to discuss it before we lodge our submission."

The other 15 clubs can make a submission before the AFL Commission meets to discuss the issue on Monday.

Collingwood president Eddie McGuire questioned the timing of the move, less than a week before the December 16 draft, and suggested the club was using Polak's situation to make a late bid for fallen champion Ben Cousins.

"Maybe I am getting old and cynical, [but] I will want some answers about why this wasn't done before the [national] draft (on November 29) so everyone knew what was going on. There are a lot of question marks," McGuire told Melbourne radio station 3AW on Wednesday evening.

"We have had a long time to think about Ben Cousins and any player with an ongoing injury. These things should have been discussed before the national draft.

"We just have to remember the Adam Ramanauskas case was a one-off. It wasn't a precedent. It was in totally different circumstances."

However, the Herald Sun also reported that Essendon chief executive Peter Jackson was unequivocal in his support of the proposal.

"It is a more than reasonable decision. It is about common sense and we fully support it," Jackson said.

"After what happened with Adam Ramanauskas, it is only right that Graham Polak should be afforded the same opportunities."