Nathan Buckley has proposed an mid-season draft to allow AFL clubs to fix seasons wrecked by injury.
But in a twist, Buckley suggests only allowing players outside the AFL to be drafted when long-term injuries at AFL clubs arise.
"I like the (mid-season draft) idea more outside of the current playing pool," he said.
"You've got blokes who are killing it at Diamond Valley or in the SANFL, or in the WAFL and they might have just miss out on being drafted or a rookie-listed player.
"But they've had a really great start to the season.
"You say ... `we've got this guy we want to give a crack to."'
The idea would turn heads in state and regional leagues, where players could find themselves battling in the mud one week, and on the MCG the next.
Buckley believes it would also strengthen tight-knit bonds between grassroots and elite AFL clubs.
His contribution is the latest offering from AFL coaches keen to tinker with the balancing act between club loyalty and player power.
On Tuesday, Geelong coach Chris Scott said he would scrap the free agency period if it was up to him, while Melbourne coach Paul Roos suggested clubs would resort to trading players in advance to avoid losing them for free.
Buckley said one the advantages of his draft would be AFL clubs wouldn't lose players, but injury-ravaged clubs could fill gaps on their list.
He cited his own struggles with key backmen Ben Reid and Nathan Brown as exhibit A.
"With the injury profiles we've seen at certain clubs ... we would have loved a little bit of support in the key back region," he said.
"If we had a mid-season draft, we may have been able to go there."
He said there was a little bit of support from the coaches meeting for a mid-season draft but there was a united view on free agency.
"The unanimous view is that it does benefit destination clubs," he said.
"It's not a method of equalisation."
Buckley didn't mince his words when considering an players association model where contracted players could sign secret mid-season agreements to join another club.
"It just sounds wrong," Buckley said.
"I've heard stories about the NRL run it and the fact you can have players play out a season in a team with his team-mates already knowing.
"There's only one thing worse than that and that's somebody knowing that they're going somewhere else and not telling, not being honest."
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