THE BRISBANE Lions have called on the AFL to prevent young players from nominating their preferred trade destination in the wake of Jared Polec's move to Port Adelaide.

Polec, a third-year player with just 16 games to his name, frustrated the Lions' bid to deal with both South Australian clubs - and maximise their return on the No.5 pick in the 2010 draft - by declaring he only wanted to be traded to the Power.

Under current AFL rules, all parties - including the player - must agree to a trade for it to be approved by the League.

Polec's call immediately drew the ire of Lions vice-captain Tom Rockliff, who expressed his disappointment in a since-deleted tweet.

Lions list manager Rob Kerr said the time was right for the AFL to intervene.

"Free agency is there for players who have been in the competition eight years and they've earned the right to choose their clubs," Kerr told lions.com.au.

"I think for players that have been in the competition two years, it's a bit rich to say 'This is where I want to go'.

"That's the way the system works at the moment and the system allows them to do that.

"I think it would be a good thing if the industry had a think about whether there is a better mechanism whereby you can get better value for young kids who leave a club after their second year."

Meanwhile, Kerr said the AFL needed to reconsider the challenges facing non-traditional markets following the mass exodus of young players from the club.

The Lions lost five young players, Billy Longer, Sam Docherty, Jared Polec, Elliot Yeo and Patrick Karnezis during the trade period and were forced into trades for all five to accommodate their wishes to either go home, or find a more preferable club.

Kerr said the 'go home' factor was an issue plaguing the Lions more than most.

"It's something that clubs in the non-traditional markets face a little bit more," he said.

"You look at West Coast, for argument's sake: I think something like (73 per cent) of their list are Western Australians.

"It's almost impossible for us to get to that point in terms of Queenslanders simply because we don't have the quality of players up here."

Kerr was disappointed to lose those players in the trade period but believed the Lions are in good shape for a productive draft.

"From a long term point of view, the fact that we've got six picks inside 34, I think if things work for us on draft night in that second round it gives us a real opportunity to re-shape our list and be reasonably strategic about where we select players and where they fit with us over the longer term," he said.  

"So we'll be taking a view to the draft of looking at these players for three to four years down the track, not necessarily for next year."