The AFL may introduce player loans as early as this season, as the League continues to move towards a mid-season player movement window.
AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan wants rebuilding clubs to be able to move up the table faster than the current cycle, with clubs usually taking five to six years to fully rebuild their list.
McLachlan spoke to reporters on Wednesday regarding the issue, and said he hopes there will be a mid-season trade period, draft period, or both in the near future, to allow clubs to add to their lists more often.
During the pre-season briefing that also saw the AFL's football operations boss Steve Hocking in attendance, Hocking said a loan period allowing players to join opposition clubs for the remainder of the season is "on the table".
"It's been a very slow U-turn, it's like trying to turn around one of those ships that comes through the Heads," McLachlan added.
"I just feel currently that our player movement has the ability to be opened up further. You have one trade period for that two weeks and you have one draft.
"Two weeks after the trade period you get Sam Docherty do his knee and he's an All Australian last year and one of Carlton's most important players and you've got (retired Saint) Leigh Montagna sitting on the sidelines who might be able to a job for a year.
"Carlton might be two years off from competing for a flag, but if it was Brodie Smith and he [injured his ACL] after the draft and Adelaide is right in that flag window you should have some more flexibility, and I think the same thing applies when you come into the middle of the year.
"Two years ago, Port Adelaide lost all their ruckmen. So you've built for four or five or six years to be in the flag spot, and to have no flexibility if you've got a specific amount of injuries doesn't make much sense to me."
McLachlan also spoke about the pre-finals bye, which is set to be in affect for the third consecutive season in 2018.
However, there's no guarantee it will be around in 2019, with McLachlan suggesting Hocking could come up with a plan that eradicate the need for the week off.
"It's certainly going to be here this year [but] if Steve comes up with a plan and wants to do different things around a mid-season draft that may mean that we have a whole week off and do a trade period or whatever," McLachlan said.
