AFL clubs will be able to keep trading draft picks after the trade deadline and right up until the national draft in a suite of changes proposed for, and likely to come into effect in, 2018.
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Clubs will also be able to trade just-drafted players and draft picks on draft night under the proposals.
The AFL is already in negotiations with broadcasters over how the changes would affect the live broadcast on draft night.
The draft working party, comprising various club list managers and AFL executive, Andrew Dillon, is looking at the changes for next year. Steve Hocking, newly arrived in the job last week will also be involved in any changes.
One alternative is for the trade period to resume for draft picks only two days prior to the national draft.
The live trading of drafted players or picks is seen to have already been introduced in part by the bidding system for academy or father son selections.
Last year for instance, Will Setterfield was theoretically briefly a Carlton player before GWS, who had a priority access to him as an academy player, used the points attached to another draft pick to secure the player.
Presently, clubs trade for early draft picks in the trade period because they have designs on trying to secure a certain player. But they always face the uncertainty that another club will still get in ahead of them for that player. By being able to trade for just-drafted players, clubs can trade in the certainty of securing a particular player.
The AFL is understood to be open to the proposal and are attracted to the drama the new component would bring to draft night.
The exchanging of draft picks after the trade deadline is seen as a means of helping encourage more movement in the trade period, as clubs are not held up by haggling over draft pick deals.
Clubs typically focus on trading for players first, and only afterwards try to do deals to exchange draft picks that have a new currency now that they have points attached for academy and father son selections.
The trading of players as well as picks is common in US sports, particularly the NFL where the draft night is a high rating television event.
"My opinion is it will come in next year, which will be exciting. I think the trade period will probably work similarly to how it is now, so there will be picks and players going around October 20," Hawthorn list manager Graham Wright told his club's website.
"Then I think the way it will work is you'll be able to trade picks basically after that period of time, where players stop, all the way through to the draft and in the draft. It will be an exciting and new phase in what the draft will look like."
