KEVIN Sheedy is advocating for indigenous players to be exempt from the salary cap to help with the AFL's likely expansion to 18 clubs.

In an attempt to negate a reduced talent pool with two new clubs set to join the league, Sheedy said clubs would be compensated for losing experienced players to the new Gold Coast and western Sydney franchises.

"Should we actually just change the rules and make sure we can encourage even more indigenous players to come into our game?" Sheedy asked at the MCG yesterday as he launched his book, Kevin Sheedy — Stand Your Ground . "That would be a tremendous boon for clubs that are worried about losing their quality players."

AFL game development manager Dave Matthews said the league took Sheedy's idea seriously, but the expansion of the AFL talent pool was likely to come from international players. "It's just a typical example of the way Kevin thinks laterally about it. We've got to expand our talent pool, so we welcome any ideas that are put forward," he said, adding that the AFL was also acutely aware of not treating indigenous players separately.

After being sacked by Essendon as coach, Sheedy has worked with the AFL this year in game development and is about to join Richmond in an ambassadorial and marketing role.

Sheedy also admitted he had considered running for the Essendon board in the wake of his departure.

"Should I go and stand for the board? I really thought hard about that, but then I thought that might be putting your energies in the wrong direction," he said.

"I had an opportunity to go back to Richmond, a club that gave me a wonderful start in my footy career. I would have had no problem working with Peter Jackson or Ray Horsburgh, but you wouldn't waste your time working with Alec Epis."

Sheedy later slightly toned down his attack on Epis, an Essendon premiership player and long-standing board member, admitting there was personal enmity between them. "It's better to be more positive than possibly negative and work with … a guy like Alec," he said. "Alec and I just don't see eye-to-eye on anything and that's fair enough, too. Why waste his energy and my energy?"

With AAP