GREATER Western Sydney has made a last-ditch appeal to the AFL to be able to list top Academy prospect Ethan Matthews outside of the bidding process after years of lobbying for open access to western Sydney products.

Matthews has rocketed into being a likely top-10 pick in this year's Telstra AFL Draft after an exciting season in the midfield playing with the Giants' Academy side as well as the Allies. 

Last week, the poised left-footer was ruled out for the rest of the Marsh AFL National Under-18 Boys Championships after bone stress was detected in his foot, seeing him in a moonboot for at least a few weeks. 

AFL.com.au understands the Giants have made another submission to the AFL to get priority access to players from western Sydney outside of the League's bidding rules in a final attempt as Matthews has risen up draft boards. 

The Giants have long lobbied the AFL to give them access to players in their local region outside of the bidding system, dating back to the previous review of the draft rules in 2024. 

Earlier this year, outgoing Giants chief executive Dave Matthews told AFL.com.au the club had told League bosses ahead of Opening Round that the northern clubs needed to be treated differently as they pressed ahead with bidding changes. 

"We've reached a point where the four northern Academies should be considered differently under the next set of rules. Our circumstances are very different to Brisbane for example in terms of both father-son access and local market maturity," Matthews said in March.  

"We've previously put in a proposal that the bidding system shouldn't apply to western Sydney and we have again said that to the AFL this week. We need to turn the tap on." 

It's understood the Giants' most recent push was again raised at last week's CEOs conference on the Gold Coast. 

The Giants want their access to western Sydney products to mirror the unfiltered access Tasmania will have to local products in their early years in the competition, having noted the lack of representation in their Sydney region.

The Devils will be able to pre-list Tasmanian Academy players in advance of each of their first four drafts outside of the bidding system, and in 2031 and 2032 they will be able to pre-select players outside the first round of the draft. 

Ethan Matthews, who came through Ingleburn and South West Sydney, started his under-18 carnival with a massive outing against Vic Country, gathering a game-high 35 disposals and 11 clearances, as well as six tackles, in the Allies' round one loss. 

The Giants currently hold pick No.5, meaning if a bid came before then for Matthews they would need to use that selection to match it. 

But if they retained that pick and used it on another draftee and then a bid fell on Matthews within the next few picks, the Giants would need to find potentially two later first-round picks to be able to match a bid on him.

He is set to get the earliest bid for a Giants Academy player since Tom Green in 2019 attracted a bid at No.10.  

Meanwhile, the Giants are closing in on their new chief executive to replace Dave Matthews. Former North Melbourne president Ben Buckley and ex-Giants executive James Avery are vying for the position, with the decision expected within the next fortnight.