The AFL says clubs will now be mandated to breed their former players to acquire father-son picks.

The compulsory breeding program is believed to be the first of it’s kind although the Soviet Union is suspected of once having similar programs.

AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan said the new initiative would ensure that attracting the next generation of players would not rely solely on attracting kids to the sport.

“No longer will we have to waste money attracting new footballers, we can pour that money into genetics and training these kids from birth.”

“This will also provide jobs for footballers after their careers have finished and a fun job too.”

The AFL says northern teams will be able to use genetic experimentation to make up for the lack of father-son picks.

“I’d just encourage clubs like GWS to just really experiment. Get some of that dinosaur DNA like in Jurassic World. Maybe clone Jeremy Cameron,” said McLachlan.

However, not everyone has welcomed the idea with AFLPA CEO Paul Marsh saying the policy could lead to trouble.

“Look how badly teams like Melbourne and Carlton run things. Now we want them to breed people?”

“It just seems certain to end badly. I’d also question if there’s enough models and reality TV stars to support such a program.”

Mr Marsh did say the AFLPA would consider supporting the idea if they got a financial cut of the action or the promise of future jobs at the AFL at some point.