{"id":929081,"date":"2026-10-15T13:20:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T13:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/929081\/"},"modified":"2026-10-15T13:20:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T13:20:18","slug":"afl-2026-west-coast-eagles-will-assess-chad-warner-bobby-hill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/929081\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL 2026: West Coast Eagles will assess Chad Warner, Bobby Hill"},"content":{"rendered":"

West Coast Eagles will continue to circle homegrown superstar Chad Warner during the final season of his contract.<\/p>\n

Warner, contracted for one more season at Sydney, has remained firmly on the Eagles\u2019 radar since he was drafted in 2019.<\/p>\n

The line-breaking Swan extended for two seasons in 2026, taking him to restricted free agency at the end of next year.<\/p>\n

Warner and four Sydney teammates were suspended for this year\u2019s finals campaign after breaching club standards.<\/p>\n

There is also an ongoing sexual assault investigation from the same night at the East Melbourne Pullman Hotel in August.<\/p>\n

The Eagles secured Melbourne premiership pair Jack Viney and Trent Rivers on AFL trade period deadline day.<\/p>\n

Rivers, 25, and Warner played junior football together and were both drafted out of East Fremantle.<\/p>\n

West Coast Eagles list boss Matt Clarke said he would \u201ccontinue to assess\u201d Warner and his free agency status. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if we turn to it or if it\u2019s always sort of been a part of it,\u201d Clarke told AFL Trade Radio with a laugh.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re always looking at those guys when they\u2019re coming out of contract, free agents all over the place.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, Chad is very happy with where he is in Sydney at the moment. We will continue to assess him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there\u2019s a link between Trent and Chad, that\u2019s great. I am sure Chad will make up his mind as to what he wants to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the time being, we\u2019re focused on what Trent and Jack Viney are going to bring to the footy club next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clarke also said he would assess Norm Smith Medallist Bobby Hill after he and Collingwood parted ways.<\/p>\n

Hill battled personal issues in his final two seasons at Olympic Park, playing just one game in the best part of 18 months.<\/p>\n

The dynamic small forward, still just 26, is widely expected to return to his home state of Western Australia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think anyone of that sort of talent, and proven talent as well on the biggest stage, you need to look at,\u201d Clarke said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike most clubs, I would\u2019ve thought, you do your due diligence around Bobby and how he\u2019s tracking.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be great if he can get himself back into a great frame of mind, physical shape to give himself a shot back at AFL footy.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll be just another one of those guys we\u2019ll assess for a potential position in that space.\u201d<\/p>\n

Viney, 32, will play two seasons with the Eagles before stepping into a coaching role for another two years.<\/p>\n

Clarke said topping up experience was important after losing Jeremy McGovern and Jamie Cripps to medical retirements in recent seasons.<\/p>\n

Originally published as AFL 2026: West Coast Eagles will assess Chad Warner, Bobby Hill<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"West Coast Eagles will continue to circle homegrown superstar Chad Warner during the final season of his contract.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":929082,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[495972,495980,495975,10968,130065,172475,495976,495987,394035,437592,378194,495954,386106,386222,638,231397,455698,495962,488543,495966,425971,495970,64,495967,63,55,639,35200,14349,126518,215610,72549,495955,10990,3895,495973,249,495960,187070,380909,495977,495956,495968,394096,495953,487545,495963,24343,495986,435808,495982,495974,20349,495958,43961,33725,155207,495961,495979,289751,387616,421061,60765,495965,495957,8424,495969,72678,131801,85,670,19023,395161,415339,377092,428603,23821,495978,215379,174804,437908,225862,379086,495984,495959,376927,452791,364611,383350,495971,495964,495983,398473,390982,42727,495985,7067,3439,495981],"class_list":["post-929081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-s-finals-campaign","tag-18-months-the-dynamic","tag-2019-the-line-breaking-swan","tag-10968","tag-130065","tag-172475","tag-a-coaching-role","tag-a-great-frame","tag-a-laugh","tag-a-link","tag-a-part","tag-a-potential-position","tag-a-shot","tag-a-star","tag-afl","tag-afl-2026","tag-afl-footy","tag-afl-trade-period-deadline-day-rivers","tag-afl-trade-radio","tag-an-ongoing-sexual-assault-investigation","tag-another-one","tag-another-two-years-clarke","tag-au","tag-august-the-eagles","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-bobby","tag-bobby-hill","tag-chad","tag-chad-warner","tag-clarke","tag-club-standards-there","tag-collingwood","tag-contract","tag-east-fremantle-west-coast-eagles-list-boss-matt-clarke","tag-experience","tag-four-sydney-teammates","tag-free-agents","tag-his-contract","tag-his-final-two-seasons","tag-his-free-agency-status","tag-his-home-state","tag-his-mind","tag-homegrown-superstar-chad-warner","tag-its-pitch","tag-jeremy-mcgovern-and-jamie-cripps","tag-junior-football","tag-just-26","tag-just-one-game","tag-medical-retirements","tag-melbourne-premiership-pair-jack-viney-and-trent-rivers","tag-mind","tag-most-clubs","tag-newswire-sport","tag-next-season","tag-next-year","tag-next-year-warner","tag-norm-smith-medallist-bobby-hill","tag-olympic-park","tag-one-club","tag-one-more-season","tag-personal-issues","tag-physical-shape","tag-proven-talent","tag-radar","tag-recent-seasons","tag-restricted-free-agency","tag-rival","tag-sports","tag-sydney","tag-talent","tag-that-sort","tag-that-space","tag-the-best-part","tag-the-biggest-stage","tag-the-eagles","tag-the-east-melbourne-pullman-hotel","tag-the-end","tag-the-final-season","tag-the-footy-club","tag-the-moment","tag-the-place","tag-the-rearview-mirror","tag-the-same-night","tag-the-time-being","tag-the-trade-period","tag-this-year","tag-those-guys","tag-trent-and-chad","tag-trent-and-jack-viney","tag-troubled-swan","tag-two-seasons","tag-viney","tag-warner","tag-ways-hill","tag-west-coast-eagles","tag-western-australia","tag-your-due-diligence"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/929081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=929081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/929081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/929082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=929081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=929081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=929081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}