THE AFL could look at realigning Greater Western Sydney's academy recruiting zone as clubs question the Giants' hold on some traditional football areas.

Under present academy rules, the Giants have the most football-oriented zone, which includes the Riverina, a region that has produced champions such as Wayne Carey, Paul Kelly and Shane Crawford.

The club's academy has 10 'centres of excellence' based around New South Wales, including regions such as Wagga Wagga, Albury and Deniliquin. The Giants' zone is widely seen as the most conducive of the four northern clubs in acquiring talent. 

If a player has lived in a club's zone for five years continuously he can be nominated by that club as a priority access signing, under a proposed new bidding system which could be confirmed next week. 

While the AFL has garnered support for its attempts to use the academies to attract talent in central Sydney, Brisbane and far-north Queensland, some recruiters view the Giants' zone as being too wide.  

"The Riverina area has been producing champions of the game for 100 years. You can understand the new markets they're trying to break into, but areas like that are football territory," one recruiter said.

"It's probably too big of an advantage given many of the players are playing in the TAC Cup."

AFL football operations manager Mark Evans supported the academy as a way to get under-18 prospects ready to reach the elite level, but said regions can be reassessed.

"The primary objective of the academy is to fast-track either talented players or players with potential. Sometimes they come from outside of our sport and we're attracting them to our sport, and sometimes they come from within our sport," Evans told AFL.com.au.

"But the principle is the same, in how do you fast-track the development of those athletes?
"Boundaries are always up for discussion, but as yet we haven't had that debate around traditional football area versus a non-traditional football area."

Evans is a part of a working party debating rules around draft, trade and free agency. The group is made up of list managers and officials from clubs around the competition, and is expected to debate the topic of redesigning academy zones.

"I accept that it's really difficult for kids in remote areas, and if you can find a way to put them in an academy for them to fast-track their development that it's a good thing," Evans said.

"I'm sure it will be discussed as part of the working group."

The Giants are set to land one of the best players of this year's NAB AFL Draft pool, midfielder Jacob Hopper, via their academy.

Hopper is from Leeton in New South Wales, but is playing for North Ballarat Rebels in the TAC Cup after moving to finish school at St.Patrick's College.

He has enjoyed an excellent start to the season and is seen as a top-five pick in an open draft.

They will also have access to Matthew Kennedy, a classy half-forward and midfielder from the Wagga area. Kennedy gathered 36 disposals and kicked two goals for New South Wales in its trial match against Vic Country last Sunday. 

The AFL Commission is expected to assess the complex new bidding system for father-son and academy prospects at its monthly meeting on Tuesday.

As AFL.com.au reported last month, club representatives were told they would know by April whether the points-based system would be included for this year.

That is not certain, with the possibility it will take longer to be analysed before being accepted or rejected by the Commission.

"I accept that clubs will want to know, but I won't preempt a Commission discussion on that, other than to say that a few different models have been presented. Until that's debated and discussed we can't give any indication which way it goes," Evans said. 

"There are probably three or four models that have been tested, some thrown up by clubs, some developed in-house. We've certainly asked clubs to road test some of these things but as yet no decision has been made."

The AFL executive is likely to recommend an equal points discount for father-son and academy prospects.

It originally proposed 25 per cent off for academy players and 15 per cent for father-sons as an incentive for clubs to invest in northern academies and maintain father-son traditions.