The AFL has moved swiftly to close a sneaky live trading loophole, ensuring clubs linked to top father-son and academy prospects can't strike multiple deals with the same team to regain value on draft night.

Foxfooty.com.au has confirmed a live pick swap like the one struck by Sydney and West Coast during last year’s draft – shrewdly orchestrated by the Swans to help them keep an early pick while also drafting their top academy gun – has been blocked by the league for 2019.

A club, now, will not be allowed to strike two separate deals with the same rival team in an attempt to use less valuable selections to match a bid on an academy or father-son prospect on draft night.



Stream over 50 sports live & anytime on your TV or favourite device with KAYO SPORTS. The biggest Aussie sports and the best from overseas. Just $25/month. No lock-in contract. Get your 14 day free trial >

Finals Week 1

LISTEN TO THE LATEST EPISODE OF THE FOX FOOTY PODCAST BELOW, OR TAP HERE TO SUBSCRIBE IN ITUNES OR SPOTIFY

ON YOUR PHONE? TAP HERE TO LISTEN

The move this year could’ve helped the likes of GWS, Hawthorn and Fremantle, who all will likely need to match bids on their linked prospects inside the top 30 of the draft.

“A club may not trade away a selection with another club for a later selection, use that later selection to counter a bid on one of their Academy players and then once that player is secured, trade in a selection with that same club to receive a higher selection in the national draft order,” an AFL spokesperson confirmed to foxfooty.com.au.

The Swans and Eagles last year struck the first ever live trade on draft night in clever circumstances.

Sydney swapped Pick 26 to the Eagles in return for a future third-round pick. That resulted in Sydney using its next three selections (Picks 34, 39 and 40) to match a bid at Pick 10 on star academy prospect Nick Blakey.

MORE AFL DRAFT NEWS

TOP 25 DRAFT PROSPECTS: The future AFL stars your club will target

DRAFT RANKINGS 26-50: The hidden gems your club can nab for a bargain

AFL DRAFT STATE OF PLAY: The clubs who’ll own the first round – and who they could pick

Nick Blakey (right) was Sydney’s first pick in the draft. Source: Getty Images

But the Swans then traded back into the draft soon after matching Blakey’s bid, receiving West Coast’s Pick 22 (which became 24) in return for a future second-round selection.



Taking a 20 per cent discount into account, the Swans needed 1116 points worth of picks to match a bid at Pick 10 on Blakey. Their original Pick 26 was worth 729 points, with Picks 34, 39 and 40 worth 1417 points combined, according to the AFL’s draft value index system.



Swans list chief Kinnear Beatson confirmed the club approached the AFL pre-draft to ascertain whether it was OK to separate the two deals, claiming AFL TPP manager Ken Wood and his team deemed the move “100 per cent it was legal”.



“The AFL approved that and of course it needed goodwill with clubs that they're going to stand by their word,” Beatson said post-draft.

“Every trade has to be ticked off by the AFL and they were prepared to do that.

“Creative thinking perhaps, but I don't think we've rorted any system, no.”

The Swans' move turned heads at the event, with AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan later telling AFL Media the rule would likely be investigated by general counsel Andrew Dillon.



“It was clearly legal and that’s what clever and industrious clubs do, they look at the rules and they take advantage of whatever stuff’s possible,” McLachlan said.

Gillon McLachlan explained post-draft the AFL would look into the rule for 2019. Source: Getty Images

“Whether that’s available next year, Dillon will have a review."



GWS is among the clubs set to get creative over the bidding process for its academy prospect Tom Green, with the Patrick Cripps-like clone expected to receive a top-five bid.

The Giants could move on their first selection (Pick 6) in return for later selections, which would aid their second selection (Pick 40) in matching a bid. They could then look to leapfrog back into the top 15 after completing a deal with another club, following the closure of the loophole with the same club.



Another option would be to wait until the player has been bidded on, with teams able to make a live trade to downgrade while on the clock, allowing for lower selections to be used to match bids.