AFLW clubs are bracing for a challenge to match bids on the next Sophie McKay or Havana Harris, with women's teams recently briefed on a host of potential draft changes that would include tightening the Academy and father-daughter bidding system.

AFL.com.au can reveal that all 18 club GMs were recently told of proposals that would squeeze the bidding system from 2027, aimed at bringing the AFLW competition more in line with its men's counterpart after the League's recent competitive balance review.

Under the current AFLW bidding system, clubs must match a bid on an Academy or father-daughter prospect via a pick within the next 18 selections.

However, in recent weeks club bosses were informed of the AFL's plans to make teams hold a pick within 10 selections if the bid is placed inside the first round of the draft and within 20 selections thereafter.

A handful of AFLW clubs – most notably including St Kilda, given its strong public stance to make the process even more restrictive in men's – have led a campaign for the women's mechanism to be even more radical.

Some clubs are understood to have lobbied for the AFL to make first-round bids be matched within five selections, rather than the proposed 10.

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The changes are set to be enacted for 2027, rather than 2026, sparing the likes of Brisbane, Sydney and Greater Western Sydney, who all have multiple potential first-round Academy prospects in this year's pool.

It comes after Gold Coast managed to match bids on six first-round Academy prospects in last year's AFLW draft, led by No.4 pick Sunny Lappin, while recruiting eight Academy graduates overall across the night.

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The Suns also matched a bid on budding superstar Harris with the No.2 pick the year prior, while McKay went to the Blues under father-daughter rules in 2024 after they matched a bid at the No.17 selection.

The League's proposals were part of a series of planned changes to the AFLW's trade and draft system and were relayed to club GMs at a conference in Sydney in the lead-up to this month's Australia v Ireland clash.

Abbie and Sophie McKay are seen during Carlton's 2026 team photo day at Ikon Park. Picture: AFL Photos

As part of the changes, clubs were also briefed on the AFL's plan to introduce live trading on draft night from 2027 to coincide with the more stringent bidding system.

However, despite pushback from AFLW clubs, the League remains against introducing future trading two years in advance as is the case in the men's competition.

The AFL announced a raft of radical draft changes for the men's competition back in April that included a tightened Draft Value Index (DVI) system, points loading based on ladder position, and limiting the number of picks a club can use to match a bid.

They were introduced ahead of the 2026 trade and draft period and will ensure clubs like Port Adelaide and Carlton will find it far more difficult to match potential No.1 bids on Academy and father-son prospects Dougie Cochrane and Cody Walker respectively.

The Lions (Mia Geere and Molly Ferguson), the Swans (Charlotte Tidemann and Frances Walsh) and the Giants (Majella Day and Zoe Curry) all have potential first-round Academy prospects in this year's AFLW pool, after bids were made on nine Academy players inside the first 18 picks last season.