Struggling AFL clubs Carlton and Gold Coast are set to be given first crack at the best players available in state leagues across the country.
With the AFL Commission meeting in Melbourne on Monday, reports surfaced that the Blues and Suns had missed out on priority picks, with the league instead settling on the state league assistance package model.
Carlton and Gold Coast, who finished 18th and 17th respectively this season, would be allowed to recruit at least one player outside the draft system under the proposed plan.
They could do so with the intention of boosting their playing stocks or on-trading them to gain extra draft picks or experienced players from rival clubs.
Tim Kelly's success at Geelong in his first AFL season has put the spotlight back on recruiting mature-aged talent.
Kelly, a 24-year-old midfielder, played 23 games for the Cats this year after he was picked out of the WAFL.
Geelong coach Chris Scott has been a vocal critic of the plan to allow strugglers special access to such players, citing the extensive work his recruiting team has already done ahead of this years draft.
Carlton's failure to land a priority pick, which would most likely have come after the top-10, could hurt their efforts to work a trade for wantaway Adelaide forward Mitch McGovern.
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