GEELONG chief executive Brian Cook has called on the AFL to scrap compensation picks for clubs that lose players during the Gillette AFL Free Agency Period.

The Cats were not compensated for losing half-forward Shannon Byrnes to Melbourne because they later signed defender Jared Rivers from the Demons.

Although happy with that outcome, Cook believes the idea of awarding compensation selections is flawed.

"I have a principle that we should not necessarily be compensated, as clubs, for losing free agents, but I'm not sure that would be shared by everyone outside," he told AFL.com.au before departing for a trip to Nepal, where he and his son are taking part in a hike to the Mt Everest base camp.

"The rightful compensation for losing a free agent is to get another one back in, really.

"The dollars that you gain by a free agent going off your list is money that should be used to bring someone on. That's the way I'm looking at it."

The compensation picks have attracted criticism from a number of clubs since they were announced at the end of the free agency period.

Hawthorn is particularly aggrieved that it was only granted a third-round selection for losing Clinton Young to Collingwood, while Adelaide is upset that it was not granted any compensation for losing Chris Knights to Richmond.

Cook says that by deciding to award compensation, the AFL lost sight of free agency's true aim.

"From my point of view, I don't think the intention of the rule was to compensate clubs for losing players through free agency," he said.

"The intention of the rule was to provide greater flexibility for those players who've given outstanding service to a club to go elsewhere if their club couldn't match the dollars."

Cook also considers that this year's free agency period, which lasted three weeks, was too long.

"It's not about trading, really," he said.

"It's simply about making an offer to a player, in dollars, and seeing if the club he comes from matches it. And that's pretty much it, to be honest.

"Now that doesn't take three weeks. That should take a week. Maybe 10 days, maybe two weeks at the very most."

The free agency system will be review by the AFL, in consultation with the clubs and the AFL Players' Association, in the coming months.

Adam McNicol covers Geelong news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter at @AFL_AdamMcNicol