Three clubs conduct ineligible draft interviews

Several AFL clubs have already held interviews with mid-season draft hopefuls who have been deemed ineligible for this month's draft.

It looks unlikely that the AFL will make any ruling on allowing the alarming group of ineligible footballers to enter the draft pool until as late as next week.

It was revealed that players who are seeking a spot on an AFL club list could be turned away if they did not nominate for the 2018 national draft.

Melbourne, Greater Western Sydney and North Melbourne have all conducted interviews with players deemed ineligible as the AFL looks to prevent clubs from constructing secret arrangements and deals in hope of drafting players in the middle of the following season.

Nominations for the draft close at 5pm on Friday, with the AFL likely to grant exemptions following an inspection of all nominations.

All clubs received a memorandum from Integrity officer Ken Woods stating the complete list of nominations will be distributed to all clubs on Monday.

The league is yet to decide whether they will grant clubs access to draft hopefuls who do not match the eligibility criteria.

Any club that has already hosted interviews with ineligible prospects were allowed to in preparation for the national draft in November.

Clubs have until 5pm next Wednesday to submit three players to undergo medicals on May 22 with AFL academies and high-performance manager Paul Sealy in accompany of club medical staff.

Clubs that intend to participate for the mid-season draft on May 27 can only do so if they have an available rookie spot or inactive player listed and must advise the league by 12pm on draft day.