AFL boss Andrew Demetriou says he wouldn't be surprised if AFL clubs started to sue media outlets and individuals for making tanking allegations.

Demetriou said reports that teams were deliberately losing games to improve their draft picks was demeaning to clubs.

"It's a nonsensical argument and one that I think people should really start to consider when they talk about it," he said.

"It won't be long before someone at a club takes action against someone for inferring what's going on."

The AFL CEO said the tanking debate was particularly farcical this season given the resurgence of Carlton and the competitiveness of Richmond. Both teams have missed out on concessions because of their improved performances in 2008.

"Last year and every year we set our clocks by about Round 12 or Round 13 and I could have sworn the last couple of years it's been about the priority pick," Demetriou said.

"But given now, no club qualifies for the priority pick, it's now turned to actually who's going to get the first pick.

"There's not much difference between pick one and pick three or four, in particular in this year's draft.

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

Meanwhile Demetriou has maintained his stance on the Brownlow Medal, believing the best and fairest count should not be changed.

"The Brownlow Medal is one of the most time-honoured sporting awards that I can think of in the world," he said.

"Despite the fact that some players will be ineligible this year, that's been the case since the inception of the Brownlow Medal."