West Coast is excited by the golden opportunity to bring in more elite young talent and unlikely to part with either of the first two picks in the draft, list manager Matt Clarke says.
The Eagles hold picks No.1 and 2 and plan to take those selections into the first round of the Telstra AFL Draft on November 19.
“We can toe the party line and say we’re always open to offers, but it would be pretty unlikely I reckon given this draft and where the talent group sits,” Clarke, the Head of List Management and Recruiting, told 6PR.
“No one has had a conversation with us or put something forward as to what that looks like.
“We’ll always listen to it, but it would be pretty unlikely I would’ve thought given what we think the draft looks like right at the top end.”
West Coast received pick two after Oscar Allen’s free agency move and shifted up the draft board to pick 13 in the deal that brought two-time premiership player Brandon Starcevich back to the west from Brisbane.
“It was a big tick for the footy club, the program, Andrew (McQualter) and what he is trying to do as well to get a two-time premiership player to come from the premiers to a club that is a rejuvenation stage that we are,” Clarke added on Trade Radio.
“Really excited. We’re very specific about the types we want to bring in in positions, but also on age demographic too.
“Brandon is proven at the level and can come into our back six, back seven, and really show the way a lot of the young guys that are down there and add some extra steel to (Reuben) Ginbey, (Liam) Baker and (Harry) Edwards and these sorts of guys – and obviously Young coming in as well – so it was a big tick for the footy club.”
The Eagles were active early in the Continental Tyres AFL Trade Period, powered by Tyrepower, and secured 35-gamer Tylar Young from Richmond well ahead of Wednesday evening’s deadline.
The 196cm key defender will help fill the significant gap left by club legend Jeremy McGovern, whose retirement this year followed the departure of Tom Barrass 12 months ago.
“We’re really excited what he can bring in,” Clarke said of Young.
“He obviously hasn’t played a lot of AFL footy because he started late in his career, but we think what he can add to those other guys and Starcevich coming in as well is pretty exciting for our backline.”
The Eagles are also committed to adding Deven Robertson, the nephew of former skipper Darren Glass, and will secure him via one of several list mechanisms now that the Trade Period has ended.
The 24-year-old played 47 games for the Lions since being drafted from Perth via selection 22 in 2019.
“There’s no way, shape or form that he’s not on our list, it’s just a matter of what it looks like,” Clarke said on 6PR.
“We’ll work out what the best mechanism is that we can add Dev as well as other players to our list.
“He’s probably been a bit unlucky he’s been stuck behind a couple of really good midfielders at Brisbane. Josh Dunkley is probably playing in a position that Dev could play for them.
“He adds some real hardness and some steel. There’s probably not a more competitive and ferocious player that I’ve seen at VFL level for the last couple of years than Dev.
“He can find the footy, he’s tough, he cracks in, he’s high standards, he drives culture so we’re really excited to have someone of his age bracket and also of a position of need we had through the midfield.”
Clarke also poured cold water on speculation about West Coast selecting Robertson’s teammate – forward Callum Ah Chee – with the first pick in the pre-season draft after the 28-year-old’s trade from Brisbane to Adelaide fell through.
“It’s pretty unlikely that that will happen. We targeted a number of players to come into the list in position types that we felt we needed,” Clarke said.
“Even with Liam Ryan going out (to St Kilda) we thought the young guys we’ve actually got on our list will be able to develop into those roles.”