Exclusive: AFL clubs to nominate 20-top up players

John Townsend

West Coast will nominate four players from their WAFL reserves team and Fremantle will take four players from Peel as potential top-up players when the AFL seasons starts next week.

And four players from each other WAFL team will also be nominated for the AFL clubs to choose should the Eagles or Dockers be hit with Covid outbreaks in the coming months.

The proposed rules will allow each AFL club to name 20 players on standby with details on match and injury payments expected to be confirmed in the coming days. No WAFL team is likely to stand in the way of their players getting an opportunity at national level even though the WA Football Commission has proposed an “opt-in or opt-out” system for clubs.

Melbourne-based AFL clubs have been told to nominate 20 players from their reserves or alignment teams.

But the rules are different for the Perth and Adelaide-based teams who have been told they can each nominate four players from four clubs to compile a top-up list of 16 to go with their four reserves players.

Only two players from each WAFL clubs are likely to be allowed to play in the same AFL game.

AFL clubs must be down to just 28 available players before they could activate a top-up.

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