AFL supremo Andrew Demetriou suggested continued accusations of "tanking" would lead to defamation action by clubs.

He also ruled a line through player-driven opinion that the Brownlow Medal's rules should be altered to either soften or remove the "fairest" component, which prevents suspended players from claiming the honour.

Far from acknowledging there may be problems with a draft system that encourages short-term ineptitude for longer term gain, Demetriou said it was "pathetic" and "demeaning" to suggest clubs would willingly lose games.

Plainly keen to stamp out the widespread talk on the subject that appears likely to damage the AFL brand, Demetriou refused to consider the alternative option of a draft lottery - of the kind used in United States - preferring instead to offer the scenario of clubs using their lawyers to silence any tanking-related dissent.

"I'm bemused by the tanking ... I find the whole conversation pathetic, I think it demeans our clubs, I've never subscribed to the theory," he said.

"The draft is a huge success over a 20-year period, every club since 1999 has made the preliminary final, so to now be talking about the context of tanking in relation to who gets pick one is a nonsense.

"It's a nonsensical argument, and one that people should really start to consider when they talk about it because it won't be long before someone at a club takes action against someone for inferring what's going on."

When quizzed on the lottery system, Demetriou did not comment on whether or not it was a superior system, but said he did not think it appropriate to add weight to "media nonsense" by considering alternatives.

"I don't believe it's the appropriate course of action to respond to media nonsense or people criticising the issue when we've had a successful draft for the past 20 odd years," he said.

"This competition is going particularly well, we should remind ourselves of that, and the day we start changing rules on inference and nonsense being peddled around is the day we should give it away.

"Last time I checked someone finishes last, we know at the start of the year someone's going to finish last, so the sooner we stop talking about it the better."

Demetriou was dismissive when asked about the chances of a change to the rules governing the Brownlow.

The winner in 2004, Chris Judd, argued this week that the fairness clause should be dropped, saying if a player could still win it despite missing two weeks with suspension then "good luck to him".

"That's my other favourite topic, no, no, look we can kill that one, that'll stop a bit of talkback for the next two weeks," Demetriou said.

"The Brownlow Medal is one of the most time honoured sporting awards I can think of in the world, certainly in this country, everyone knows the Brownlow Medal, knows what it stands for."

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