WEST Australian and South Australian clubs have put forward a proposal to the AFL for them to gain priority access to the leading indigenous talents from metropolitan zones in their Next Generation Academies.
The NGA program for West Coast, Fremantle, Port Adelaide and Adelaide has allocated each of the four clubs rural and remote regions where they can develop indigenous prospects and then have first call on those players at draft time under the father-son and Academy bidding system.
However, AFL.com.au understands the League has been approached and a presentation put forward for each state's metropolitan and city areas to be halved so more players fall into their catchments.
The NGA has been developed by the AFL to increase the talent pool of indigenous and multicultural players, with each club (outside of NSW/ACT and Queensland clubs who already have their own Academies) given an area to run Academy programs and develop players.
Players of multicultural backgrounds who live in metropolitan areas and meet the relevant criteria are already eligible to the SA and WA clubs, but not indigenous players.
This is in contrast to the Victorian clubs, who have access to multicultural and indigenous players within their zones even if they live in metropolitan areas, a difference that the proposal makes clear to the AFL.
Including the indigenous players in the zones could be significant. For instance, if the metropolitan areas were included for 2018, two of this year's leading draft hopefuls, Ian Hill and Izak Rankine, would fall into indigenous zones in their respective states.
Hill, a cousin of Bradley and Stephen Hill at Fremantle, plays for WAFL club Perth and with his pace and skills is one of the most exciting players in the 2018 pool. Rankine has already shot to prominence at senior level for SANFL side West Adelaide and both are in the mix as top-five picks at November's NAB AFL Draft.
The discussion will not result in changes for this year's draft, but clubs have suggested widening the zones would stop any exclusion that can be created around NGA programs where some hopefuls are left out of a development opportunity due to their living location.
An idea has also been floated where if a club did have a top indigenous talent come through its metropolitan region in SA and WA, they would lose priority access to them if a rival club's bid came in the top-20 picks.
A similar safeguard already exists for northern Academy and NGA prospects, where the finishing ladder position of a club has a direct impact on how many academy players a club can draft inside the top-20, with top-four clubs only able to take one each draft.
The AFL is conscious that if it did add metro areas for the four clubs, it would be with the aim to improve the chances of players at the back end of the draft, not to have gun youngsters such as Hill and Rankine tied to clubs.
Tarryn Thomas, who is linked to North Melbourne through its Tasmanian Academy, could be the first NGA player selected as a top-10 pick this year, while Collingwood may also have two early NGA choices with Oakleigh defensive pair Isaac Quaynor and Bailey Wraith eligible.
