IF THE Sydney Swans had their way, star basketballer Patrick Mills would be preparing for a pre-season at the SCG instead of suiting up for the Portland Trailblazers in the NBA.

Swans chief executive Andrew Ireland said Mills was a prime example of the need for a better development pathway for prospective AFL players in the northern states.

“Patrick actually won the best player at one of the junior carnivals playing Australian football and at that stage, we identified him as being a talented young player,” he said.

“Without a club like the Swans who would have chased him hard to convince him to play our code, it was much harder for AFL Canberra to convince him [to] pick football in front of basketball.

“We actually kept in touch with Patrick for a few years, hoping that he might change course but the reality is that unless you can actually offer a direct route to his destination - like a club such as the Swans in this market - it’s very hard to compete.”

With the announcement of a new club-based academy system for young players in NSW, Queensland and the ACT, Ireland said that pathway would become a reality.

From 2011, the Sydney Swans, Brisbane Lions, Gold Coast and Team GWS will each set up their own high performance academies to provide pathways to an AFL career for young local athletes.

Ireland said the club had lobbied the League for five years to implement an academy system.

He said it would allow AFL clubs in NSW and Queensland to compete on a level footing with NRL clubs who could promise local athletes a career with their local clubs.

“Rugby league [officials] have often spoken about the fact that they believe not having a draft has been advantageous for them, where youngsters who live close to their teams can actually aspire to play for their clubs,” Ireland said.

“We think that opening this up for us will put us on a more competitive basis in Sydney to recruit talented young kids to our code.”