He is one of nine Brisbane Lions academy players who can be bid on by other clubs ahead of the NAB AFL Draft, in a similar manner to the father-son bidding system.
It means if a rival club viewed Freeman – or any academy player - within the best batch of draftees this year, it could bid its first-round draft selection to recruit him.
The Lions would then have the option to match the bid with its next draft pick.
Freeman had a strong Under-18 national championships, averaging 12 disposals and two goals per game for Queensland, and will attend the AFL Draft Combine in October.
Gold Coast and Sydney Swans work under the same guidelines, while Greater Western Sydney has one more year under the old system, where it can add an academy player straight to its list.
Any of the academy players listed below may be taken at the father/son and academy bidding meeting on October 7, with a final deadline for their respective club to decide if they wish to nominate a player set down for October 4.
The academy players listed are: Brisbane Lions (Hayden Bertoli-Simmonds, Isaac Conway, Jonathon Freeman, Sam Gribble, Nick Jackson, Lewis Radford, Aden Rutledge, Archie Smith, Cain Tickner); Gold Coast Suns (Jarred Ellis, Caleb Haey); GWS Giants (Logan Austin, Jake Barrett, Doug Bond, Kristian Cary, Kieran Ellis, Michael Gibbons, Max King, Jack Steele); and Sydney Swans (Mitch Crawford, James Dunn, Harrison Green, Jack Hiscox, Yaran Jaffer-Williams, Jackson Pola-Smith, Errol Sertbas, Jordan Weir, Stephen Wray).
Michael Whiting is a reporter for AFL Media. You can follow him on Twitter: @AFL_mikewhiting
