EDDIE McGuire usually views the world in black and white, but he is about to see red.

The Collingwood president’s war against the northern clubs’ talent academies was briefly smacked down yesterday by AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan, who promised his protection during a two-day visit to Queensland this week

But his battle cry is sure to be heard across the competition when he learns the Gold Coast Suns are demanding a 40 per cent discount on the draft value assigned to players who they recruit from their academy.

The Suns have broken ranks with the other members of football’s northern alliance – the Lions, Swans and GWS – arguing they have special needs and need an extra discount.

media_camera AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan at Metricon Stadium.

Their argument is they are generations away from having access to father-son selections like the Lions and Swans and do not enjoy the Giants’ access to a fertile recruiting ground like the Riverina district which produced AFL greats such as Wayne Carey, Paul Kelly and the Daniher clan.

Submissions from the 18 clubs over the recruiting rules for father-son and academy selections were due this week.

The AFL has proposed a system where draft values are assigned to players on a sliding scale, starting at 3000 for the No.1 pick and dropping from there.

It has been mooted that the Northern clubs would get a 25 per cent discount off that determined value when selecting players from their academies but both the Lions and Suns say it is not enough.

media_camera Outspoken critic of talent academies Eddie McGuire.

The Lions have not revealed the figure they want while the Suns did not put a number to their demands only saying it should be 15 per cent higher than the other clubs receive.

McGuire, who led the successful campaigns against the cost of living allowance (COLA) that Brisbane and the Swans previously enjoyed and has declared the academies would ruin the game, is sure to re-launch his attacks when that request becomes public.

McLachlan’s assurances have ended the debate over the future of the academies, but he concedes the system needs to be tinkered with to ensure the advantage they provide is fair.

“People are trying to stir this one up,’’ he said.

“We’ve been pretty consistent in that, in an ideal world, you have an uncompromised draft and you only vary it for key strategic reasons and getting talent out of NSW and Queensland is such an occasion.

“We’ve been very pleased with the way the academies have been progressing, but if you can evolve the system that has the least impact possible on the draft you should do that.’’

He also ruled out the AFL taking charge saying they belonged in the hands of the clubs.

“There needs to be some level of motivation and incentive and that means using the brands that are really relevant to the markets,’’ he said.

Originally published as Black-and-white Ed about to see red