Veteran football journalist Caroline Wilson has claimed the AFL's "priority pick is back firmly on the table" to assist North Melbourne at the National Draft.
North coach David Noble previously urged his club in May last year (after falling to 0-8) to speak to the AFL about the prospect of a priority pick, and the issue has now resurfaced.
The Kangaroos have routinely occupied the bottom half of the ladder in recent years and currently sit last this season with a record of 1-5 and the worst percentage in the competition (60%).
"The priority pick is back firmly on the table," Wilson said on Footy Classified on Wednesday night.
"North have had a shocking run since David Noble has been coach and before David Noble took over.
"They've got a lot of issues, North Melbourne, and this is something that is really, really worrying the AFL at the moment."
The AFL have offered assistance in recent seasons to struggling teams, but a priority pick would not be distributed lightly to North, given they had already naturally received last year's first pick in Jason Horne-Francis.
The AFL handed out draft assistance to the Gold Coast Suns in the 2019 draft, which saw them receive Picks 1 (priority) and 2 (existing pick), as well as three extra picks over the next three seasons and expanded Academy access.
In 2018, Carlton were permitted to pre-list state league players, while Brisbane received a draft pick in 2016 immediately after the first round.
However, fellow Footy Classified panellists Matthew Lloyd and Ross Lyon believe North Melbourne should focus on their list management, as well as recruiting senior figures to the club to help develop younger players.
"We talk about priority picks, I‘ve seen so many guys go into weak and poor football clubs (and struggle). How many Suns players have we seen over the years go in as highly-talented players and go out the door?" Matthew Lloyd said.
"I'd rather a Mark Williams or a Ross Lyon come into my football club to top up and develop players and harness players – because, to be honest, they (draftees) go into a poor club and they’re spat out the door within four years anyway."
Ross Lyon said that AFL assistance was not the answer for an established club in North, claiming the impact of poor decision making in regards to their playing list was on display.
The Roos have delisted 17 players across the past two years and have traded away well-established competition names such as Ben Brown (Melbourne), Shaun Higgins (Geelong), and Robbie Tarrant (Richmond).
"They've got 21 players delisted over the last two years," he said.
"List managers go, 'Oh, they can't play, we'll just cut them'. I think there should be a maximum amount you can delist because it cruels clubs and exposes their underbelly like we're seeing with North Melbourne.
"That's half the list in two seasons. I know why they do it, but now we're seeing the outcome: a non-competitive AFL team. We're still finding out about the kids, but they're around the edges.
"Don't worry about asking for priority picks until you show us in the first quarter that you can have a real dip. That's what we're looking at."
Since Round 3 of 2020, North have won just six of 42 games, finishing second last in 2020 and last in 2021 (70.3%).
The four-time VFL/AFL premiers are now "worrying the AFL" as they register a 1-5 start to 2022.
They take on Carlton at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night, after 10-goal plus thrashings at the hands of the Western Bulldogs and Geelong in the past two rounds.