It was one of the biggest talking points to emerge from the first round of the 2018 AFL Draft and a moment dual North Melbourne premiership great David King believes Sydney bent the rules in its favour.

Months after son of a gun Nick Blakey chose the club where his father is an assistant coach and where he has been part of the clubs academy, ahead of North Melbourne and Brisbane where he was eligible as a father-son selection, the Swans landed the midfielder without having to part with its first pick.

Despite not entering the draft until Pick 26, Sydney leapt up the board by trading its second-round pick to West Coast, before matching Greater Western Sydney’s bid on Blakey at Pick 10 by handing over Picks 34, 39 and 40.

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John Longmire’s side then struck another deal with the Eagles, acquiring West Coast’s Pick 22 for a future second-round pick to land back in the second-round of this year’s draft.

“When you look at what Sydney have done, they’ve outsmarted the system a little bit – and credit to them,” King told Fox Footy following the completion of the first round of the 2018 AFL Draft on Thursday night.

“I think it will be a major talking point.

Nick Blakey celebrates a goal for the Allies this year. Source: Getty Images

“I don’t really think that’s what the system was designed to do, but it has.

“We said there would be a club ahead of the pack coming in, but I didn’t think it would involve Nick Blakey.

“To get this kid for effectively 33, 38 and 39 is an absolute steal and a bargain.”

King applauded Sydney for its shrewd move, but doesn’t think the system should function that way, especially in the wake of landing Isaac Heeney and Callum Mills for below their market value.

“It’s a very difficult one to stop, but it creates the academy anger again around the competition,” King said.

“Nick Blakey was seen going into (Thursday night) as a top-10 pick. You really shouldn’t be able to get him for those late selections, given you had a Pick in the 20s anyway. Intelligence wins over.

“If that weighting of that player is inside the first round, maybe we have to look at the fact that you can’t trade your first-round pick away and double dip.”

Pick 10 Nick Blakey poses after Sydney picked him on Thursday night. Source: AAP

Sydney’s outgoing head of football and incoming chief executive officer Tom Harley said the move emerged on the night, following planning ahead of the introduction of live trading.

“It developed tonight. It was really interesting having the trading of the picks on the night. We went in with a pretty open mind and we’re very fortunate that we have a progressive recruiting department to throw up a myriad of options and this was the one that presented itself,” Harley told Fox Footy.

“We wanted to maximise our position in the points that we ultimately had to absorb by Nick, so we moved that back starting with the Pick in the 30s.

“Then there was a clear focus to get back into the draft and that was the secondary trade with West Coast.”

Sydney will have one of the first picks on the second day of this year’s AFL Draft, entering the second-round at Pick 25.