THE AFL is set to introduce an additional Category B rookie spot for clubs to draft an Indigenous player to their lists for the 2027 season.

A meeting on Thursday for the AFL's working group, which includes a number of club officials, AFL list management staff, league executives Greg Swann and Taryn Lee as well as former player and now Next Generation Academies manager Chad Wingard, saw the League confirm that it will be proceeding with the move for the men's competition for the upcoming off-season ahead of the 2027 season.

It is also set to be added for the AFLW competition for the 2027 season next year, with the moves still requiring approval and final sign-off from the AFL Commission.

The AFL had weighed up whether to introduce a pilot program as an option, where clubs could have been able to trial an Indigenous player over the next upcoming pre-season and retain rights to them for the following season, but it has instead decided on the plan on the additional Category B rookie spot.

Under the current rules, Category B rookies are capped at two per club. However, with the proposed change, clubs will be able to go to three if one of their three Category B rookies is of Indigenous and First Nations background. 

It will not be mandatory for clubs to use the selection, but the League is confident many clubs will take up the opportunity, with the AFL also committed to developing cultural capability and resources around supporting the Indigenous players in the game, as well as soft cap support and education programs. 

The AFL has consulted with clubs, list bosses and recruiters in talking through how the plan would work from a list mechanism perspective and on Thursday presented the growing rates of Indigenous players in the pathways system, while AFL boss Andrew Dillon also recently met with many of the competition's Indigenous players. 

Lee, the AFL's general manager of First Nations engagement and inclusion, confirmed to AFL.com.au that the additional rookie spot for next year is part of a range of measures the League has in place as part of its plans to lift the numbers of Indigenous AFL and AFLW players.

"It's one of many initiatives that supports the growth and strategy of building First Nations representation in the game. It's a partnership approach with clubs and we all have an important role to play in making this successful," Lee said. 

Currently there are five clubs that have Indigenous players as Category B rookies, which under the rules would see them able to list another Category B rookie – be it an international player or alternative sport athlete – as their extra spot if their Indigenous player is retained. 

NGA players who have been overlooked by their tied clubs will be eligible to all clubs as Category B rookies after the national draft is complete, while all other Indigenous players must have nominated for the draft to be eligible to be added to clubs' lists in the extra position. 

Data shown to the working group on Thursday revealed the growth of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander NGA registrations had grown nearly 20 per cent from 2023-24 to 2025-26.

The representation of First Nations players in the boys under-18 program this year is at 11 per cent, up from four per cent in 2023, with the same growth in the girls under-18 competitions from 2023 to 2026 as well. The uplift was presented to the group by the AFL's Indigenous Programs Manager Narelle Long. 

Dillon conceded earlier this year the game has plenty of work ahead to combat a decline in the number of Indigenous players at the top level.

There are 62 First Nations players on AFL club lists in 2026, a drop from the record 87 in 2020.