While confirming that the bottom-placed Lions were considering asking for a priority pick at the end of the year, Swann lamented what he felt was a looming loss of young footballers in developing states, who will not as readily be able to stay in their home cities.

"The re-jigging of the academy bidding is going to make it harder for us," Swann told Fairfax Media.

"That's been another thing that we think has been hijacked a bit from down south that's probably going to have a bigger effect on us than people realise."

The complex new points-based system - unveiled in May - was designed by a working party of club list managers. It was implemented after a mass outcry followed Sydney taking boom Newcastle youngster Isaac Heeney late in the first round of last year's draft. Brought in alongside a revamped bidding system for father-son selections, the Lions, Gold Coast, Sydney and Greater Western Sydney will be forced to pay a considerably steeper price for talent from their academies.

Swann said it would now be difficult for his club to land the likes of midfielder Ben Keays and tall forward Eric Hipwood - both the fruits of their academy, and prospective first-round selections. The former Carlton and Collingwood chief executive believed that the changes had stemmed in part from Victorian skepticism surrounding academies.

"I just think there's an agenda down south that the academies are no good. There's two aspects to the academy. One is the development of the code and the other is putting fair value on them."

"With this new mechanism, it's going to make it harder for us and Sydney and Gold Coast and GWS to put the home-grown talent on your list because it's going to be so much more costly under this new regime.

"Especially if you've got two or three in one year, it's just really difficult to get enough points to get them on your list."

Swann believed that those who had pushed for the removal of concessions to the northern clubs failed to realise how important a mechanism the academies were in luring young athletes away from the rugby codes.

"If you can't get them onto your list, it's going to make it difficult."

"I think the growth [in Australian football] up here is really good, but that's part of why it is good, because those academies are helping locals think 'OK good, I can join the academies and stay in Brisbane.'

"And I don't think the people down south realise that."

Having been touted as a rapid improver in 2015, the Lions have slumped to 2-14 on the back of a crippling injury list and a historic lack of scoring potency. But Swann thought there were deeper issues which meant that his club - which had failed With midfielder James Aish appearing certain to leave the club, and ruckman Matthew Leuenberger looking likely to do the same, the Lions are set to be left with just two first-round draft picks on their list - Sam Mayes and Daniel Rich. As such, they are contemplating a push for extra assistance.

"As a club, we're considering whether we put in an application for a priority pick."

"We understand that there will be plenty out there saying they're self-inflicted wounds but there's some things that are outside our control which have made it difficult for us."

It's understood that the Lions are close to securing highly-rated GWS welfare manager and former Lions player Craig Lambert to help with their efforts to keep talent. The Lions' gloss as a club have also been tarnished by their inability to upgrade their sub-par training facilities with a proposed move to Springfield - 26km south-west of Brisbane - was rejected.

Melbourne last year bid unsuccessfully to claim a priority pick. The Demons were the first club to try and secure emergency draft assistance since the 2012 change to make such selections a discretionary matter for the AFL Commission.