At least that is the view of Carlton's recruiting manager Wayne Hughes, who admitted that one of the Blues' four picks on draft day was selected with an eye on what might happen when the concessions are introduced from next year.
Caleb Tiller, 17, was taken by Carlton with its round-six selection, a decision Hughes said was influenced by the impending entry of the Gold Coast franchise into the competition.
"There's no doubt about that, I think most clubs thought along the same lines," he said from Visy Park on Wednesday.
"We spent a fair bit of time studying the younger guys that we thought might be available at a late pick when, in any other year, they might have gone through [undrafted] and might have been an earlier pick next year.
"It's part of the forward planning of our club that we would try and bring a couple of younger blokes in and we're happy to have Caleb in as a 17-year-old."
Tiller's selection even surprised his under-18s coach Phil Bunn from the Murray Bushrangers, who said the young forward had some developing to do before being ready for AFL footy.
“Physically, he's got a lot of work to do yet. He's a lightly-framed boy. He certainly showed some real glimpses of talent this year," Bunn told afl.com.au.
"[Carlton] saw it as a 17-year-old; put him in the bank for now … Caleb's probably just a bit of a project".
Hughes' comments about his club's approach on draft day come after similar sentiments were expressed by Hawthorn list manager Chris Pelchen.
"We were very mindful this year that the drafts will constrict over 2009, 2010 and 2011 with the Gold Coast coming in," said Pelchen.
"We were mindful of trying to select 17-year-olds this year and that’s why we chose three of them."
Essendon recruiting manager Adrian Dodoro was another to admit that the nature of future drafts had swayed the club's decision to take young forward Michael Still.
"Michael is a good height, he takes a good contested mark, he's bottom-aged – he's probably one of the youngest boys in the draft – and we just wanted to take a young player and bank him for the future," he said.
But despite clubs' looking to secure the best young talent before the Gold Coast's draft concessions kick in from next year, the figures don't support a raid on the youngest players available. Nineteen bottom aged players were selected in the 2008 national draft, compared with 18 in 2007.
Players born in 1991 taken in 2008 NAB AFL Draft (17 years old this year)
1. Jack Watts (No.1) – Melbourne
2. Jack Ziebell (No.9) – North Melbourne
3. Steele Sidebottom (No.11) – Collingwood
4. Lewis Johnston (No.12) – Sydney Swans
5. Sam Blease (No.17) – Melbourne
6. Dan Hannebery (No.30) – Sydney Swans
7. Liam Jones (No.32) – Western Bulldogs
8. Liam Shiels (No.34) – Hawthorn
9. Steven Motlop (No.39) – Geelong
10. Jarrad Blight (No.45) – Collingwood
11. Luke Rounds (No.46) – Collingwood
12. Michael Walters (No.53) – Fremantle
13. Michael Still (No.55) – Essendon
14. Tom Lee (No.60) – Adelaide
15. Campbell Heath (No.61) – Sydney Swans
16. Luke Lowden (No.63) – Hawthorn
17. Shane Savage (No.75) – Hawthorn
18. Caleb Tiller (No.80) – Carlton
19. Kieran King (No.81) – Brisbane Lions
