An “extraordinary” top-10 pick ladder proves why the AFL must provide West Coast with draft assistance this off-season, according to Herald Sun reporter Jon Ralph.

The Eagles appear destined for this year’s wooden spoon – and a fourth consecutive bottom-three ladder finish – in coach Andrew McQualter’s first year at the helm amid a big list rebuild. They’ve won one game this season and just 11 of their past 90 matches since late 2021 amid an array of injuries and significant list turnover.

The club’s predicament has led to suggestions West Coast – one of the healthiest clubs in the competition from an off-field perspective – deserves ‘priority pick’ help from the AFL. The league across the past decade has given the likes of North Melbourne, Gold Coast and Brisbane draft assistance after experiencing prolonged periods at the bottom-end of the ladder.

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AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon earlier this week said any priority selection calls would be left to the discretion of the AFL Commission. But he hinted it was an unlikely prospect, pointing to Adelaide’s rise as a “blueprint” to return to premiership contention.

While West Coast has remained tight-lipped publicly around whether it intends to ask the AFL for list help, Ralph said the club would unlikely pitch for a pointy, top-end selection if they ultimately approached league headquarters.

“They won’t be asking for the pre-draft priority pick – No. 1 overall – and they’ll of course get (a free agency compensation pick) Oscar Allen when he departs, which will be No.2. So they’ll have the first two picks anyway,” Ralph told Fox Footy’s Midweek Tackle.

Andrew McQualter, Senior Coach of the Eagles. Picture: Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images

“I think they’ll ask for extra rookie picks, I think they’ll ask for extra selections that would allow them to secure the points for some of those NGA kids from WA. They want to get them on their list, which is the right decision.”

Ralph then highlighted the lack of top-end talent on West Coast’s list, which could be a key part of any prospective draft assistance pitch.

“The talent drain is extraordinary,” he said.

“You look at their list – and I think this is part of the submission they’ll put in – there’s two top-10 picks right now on their list, seven players taken in the top 20. Gold Coast has 10 top-10 picks, North 10, you look at that list it’s extraordinary … GWS has 19 top-20 selections to their (the Eagles’) seven.

“So at some stage there the AFL has to intervene.”

NUMBER OF TOP 10 PICKS ON AFL LISTS

10 – Gold Coast Suns, North Melbourne

9 – Essendon

8 – Fremantle, GWS Giants, St Kilda

7 – Carlton, Melbourne, Richmond

6 – Adelaide Crows, Brisbane Lions, Western Bulldogs

5 – Collingwood, Port Adelaide, Sydney Swans

4 – Geelong Cats, Hawthorn

2 – West Coast Eagles

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The Kangaroos in 2022, after winning just 12 of their previous 84 matches, received two end-of-round future draft picks that had to be used to trade in players, while they were also given two extra list spots.

Fox Footy commentator Corbin Middlemas said the Eagles deserved a similar deal to what the Roos received three years ago.

“I would give them an end-of-first-round pick but put a rider on it that they must trade it to another team,” Middlemas told Midweek Tackle.

“So with the hope of getting an experienced Western Australian player back who ordinarily might be worth Pick 30 or something, but because you’ve got Pick 20, you use that as a bargaining tool, price someone out and hopefully it’ll make them more competitive immediately.”

Whatever the assistance ultimately looks like, Herald Sun reporter Lauren Wood said the AFL needed to act fast.

“I think we need to do it sooner rather than later too. We can’t let this drag on like has happened in years gone by, it’s a drain on the comp,” Wood told Midweek Tackle.