Mounting division over Greater Western Sydney's recruiting benefits has prompted new fears that the game will face pressure to return to the bygone era of club talent zones.
West Coast is one club pushing the AFL to give it special access to Indigenous and multi-cultural players from all of its Next Generation Academy regions across Western Australia.
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Eagles chief Trevor Nisbett confirmed his club had met AFL bosses this week in a bid to persuade them to grant West Coast access to all players across their West Australian academies.
Nisbett said his club did not oppose the Giants retaining their academy borders from the Murray River but stressed that the same rules should apply to the new Next Generation academies.
"It's an argument that defies logic in my view," said Nisbett. "If we're being asked to develop and fund an under-represented area then we should have access to the players we develop.
"The big difficulty in WA is access and cost. We'd be more supportive of the academies if we were getting rewarded for the effort and the work when we've got opposition zones in the northern states where the same rules don't apply."
Although Giants chief David Matthews strongly defended the AFL's proposed move to allow the club to retain its Murray River boundaries — which includes a region widely considered an Australian Rules stronghold — the contentious zone is regarded by even the other northern clubs as failing the academy criteria.
![Trevor Nisbett.](/web/20170224192217im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/h/5/d/6/o/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.guj34f.png/1487756776683.jpg)
And Brisbane CEO Greg Swann warned against the perils of allowing all clubs access to special recruiting zones.
"The AFL has to be careful," said Swann, "because there will be a lot of pressure from clubs putting time and effort into their new academies wanting to recruit those players.
"There'll be a push back to zones and we don't want to see that."
With the debate centring upon the GWS academy there is also a view from some Victorian clubs that should the Giants reach the top four again this year they should be denied access to all players from their development zone. The AFL's proposal is to allow the new club access to just one player should it reach the preliminary final stage.
While West Coast and Fremantle have divided up most of the state, both clubs have been restricted from recruiting Indigenous players from the majority of their academy zones because they are not regarded as athletes new to football.
"The rules that apply to other clubs in other states should apply to all our Next Generation academies," said Nisbett. "We're going into Next Generation academies but we can't select any Indigenous players unless they come from the Pilbara. The same rules apply to Fremantle who can only access their Indigenous academy players if they come from the Kimberley.
"The south east corridor here is under-represented in the WAFL and the AFL and we are being asked to develop that area and yet we cannot access the players once we've developed them."
Nisbett said his club's case remained part of "ongoing discussions" with the AFL. The commission is scheduled to rule on the proposed new academy changes at next month's meeting.
The father-son rule is expected to remain unchanged.