THERE will be some added intrigue around this year's AFL player exchange period with a special mini-draft to be held after all the final trade paperwork has been lodged.

AFL recruiting teams will converge on Melbourne on Monday, October 17, for the final day of the AFL's official trade period where they may finalise their bids for one of four concessionary selections Greater Western Sydney will have to offer.

The selections are designed to provide an incentive to other clubs to trade with GWS as part of the concessions granted to the Giants to help them build their inaugural playing list. 

A player needs to have been born in 1993 or earlier to be eligible for this year's national draft, but this scheme allows for players whose birthdays fall between January 1 and April 30, 1994, to be claimed by a club with one of the four picks the Giants have to trade away.

Clubs that have successfully traded for one of the four selections will have the opportunity to choose a player from a pool of 17-year-olds (see below list of eligible players at this year's NAB AFL Under-18 Championships) at the mini-draft.

Highly-rated youngsters Jaeger O'Meara and Dayle Garlett from Western Australia, Vic Country's Brad Crouch and South Australians Ben Kennedy and Matthew McDonough fall into the eligible age bracket and are impressing at the under-18 championships underway around the country.

The Giants must trade the picks and cannot, for example, decide to use one to select O'Meara for themselves. They will allocate these four selections over the next two years to other AFL clubs in exchange for experienced players and/or draft picks.

"It's an additional trading incentive to try and help GWS build their list," AFL national talent manager Kevin Sheehan explains.

"They have these four 'hands' to play over the next two years.

"They'll have the opportunity to engage with other clubs to seek experienced players, draft picks or a package of both to improve their list and it's up to them to negotiate the best deal they can for each of these picks.

"It's important to note that the 17 other clubs won't be negotiating for a particular player. They will be negotiating for the first of those four choices, then the second and down the line until the fourth."

The most likely scenario will see GWS auction off two picks to the highest bidders this year and then repeat the process next year in order to maximise their return.

However, if interest in this year's crop of players born in the eligibility window creates a bidding war, then the Giants can conceivably move on all four picks, which the successful clubs can then use on the player of their choice if he's still available.

Although public interest in the youngsters selected will be intense given the high price that will likely be paid by the successful clubs, supporters will have to wait until 2013 to see their prized recruit in action due to age restrictions that require a player to turn 19 in his first year of AFL footy.

If the Giants do have any of the four concessionary picks left to trade next year then players eligible to be claimed in this manner will need to have been born between January 1 and April 30, 1995.

Although it will be a fascinating sidebar to the normal trade week intrigue, Sheehan's first task will be to inform those eligible players of the finer details of the opportunity that lies in front of them.

"That's the first part of this so the clubs know who is available and then they can move on to deciding behind closed doors what they're willing to give up," he says.

"It'll be debated for months.

"They are young, they're not fully developed, so clubs will have to go through that whole debate over how much they would be willing to give up for one of these players."

All clubs other than GWS will nominate a maximum of 10 players of interest to them under this rule by July 1. All players nominated by a club will then be advised in writing of this opportunity so they can nominate to be considered under this rule before the August 1 deadline.

The top-ranked players will then be invited to the NAB AFL Draft Combine to be held at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne from October 4 - 7. 

The AFL will fully brief players on the process and they can choose to opt out and go into next year's draft pool.
NAB AFL Under-18 Championships players eligible to nominate for possible selection in the 17-year-old mini draft
PlayerDOBHeightWeightClub
South Australia
Ben Kennedy 3/03/9417473Glenelg/Brighton
Josh Simpson 9/02/9418167North Adelaide/Rostrevor
Todd McKay25/01/9417674South Adelaide/Port Noarlunga
Emmanuel Irra 25/03/9417973South Adelaide/Port Noarlunga
Jimmy Toumpas 2/01/9418374Woodville West Torrens/Flinders Park
Aaron Luccon 21/04/9419586Norwood/Athelstone
Matthew McDonough26/01/9418082Woodville West Torrens/Flinders Park
Brodie Grundy 15/04/9420092Sturt/Unley
Vic Country
Brad Crouch 12/01/9418483North Ballarat Rebels/Beaufort FC
Jason Pongracic 21/04/9418182Dandenong Stingrays/Koo Wee Rup FC
Vic Metro
Matthew Haynes 19/03/9419076Northern Knights/Carey Baptist
Nick Vlastuin 19/04/9418683Northern Knights/Eltham
Western Australia
Shannon Taylor 5/02/9417772Claremont Football Club
Jaeger O'Meara23/02/9418275Perth Football Club
Christopher Yarran 27/04/9418380Perth Football Club
Adam Carter 17/04/9417970South Fremantle Football Club
Sean Lynch 30/01/9418476South Fremantle Football Club
Dayle Garlett 9/01/9418168Swan Districts Football Club
Laine Wilkins 30/03/9418973Peel Thunder Football Club
Riley Hutchinson 12/01/9418778East Perth Football Club 
Mason Shaw 15/01/9419782South Fremantle Football Club
Kamdyn McIntosh 3/04/9419282Peel Thunder Football Club
Chase Strange 5/03/9417667Peel Thunder Football Club
Tasmania
Jackson Thurlow 28/03/9418872Launceston
Sam Siggins 20/03/9419281Lauderdale
Josh Grant 1/03/9419583Glenorchy