For the first time, clubs will be able to make and match bids on academy and father-son prospects during the draft, after the AFL established its new points-based system.
Click here for a full table of the points system (PDF)
This will see the draft order change throughout the night as clubs matching bids will move up to the selection where the bid was placed.
To 'pay' for highly rated players, clubs can use multiple picks to accrue enough points, which will also affect the draft order on the night.
The selections that clubs start the night with will not be the same as those they will have made at the end of the draft.
Sydney Swans midfielder Callum Mills is tipped to be the first player to attract a bid, while bids could also come for Greater Western Sydney pair Jacob Hopper and Matthew Kennedy inside the first 10 picks.
HOW LIVE DRAFT BIDS WILL WORK
• Melbourne picks Sydney Swans academy player Callum Mills with selection No.3
• The Swans decide to match the offer (this only applies to northern academy or father-son nominations)
• Each draft pick has a points value - in this case 2234 - and the Swans are given a discount of 20 per cent. That brings the pick value down to 1787
• The Swans need to give up their draft picks at 33, 36, 37 and 44 to have enough points to match Melbourne's bid and take Mills
• Melbourne have the next pick in the draft at No.4
Brisbane Lions academy duo Eric Hipwood and Ben Keays are expected to be bid on in the first round, while Reuben William (Brisbane Lions), Harry Himmelberg and Matthew Flynn (GWS) are other academy prospects likely to have rival interest.
The AFL has revamped its NAB AFL Draft night in line with the new bidding system, with a range of changes to be implemented at the Adelaide Convention Centre.
Clubs will sit in partitioned sections of a separate room to where selections are announced to the crowd and players, with the clubs making their choices via a technological program developed by the League and Champion Data.
Senior coaches will reveal their team's selections to the crowd for first-round picks. If a club is not involved in the first round, its senior coach will read out its first selection.
Below: How the bid application will look on the night
Below: Full table of the points value for draft selections
