Balls in air as Eagles open to offers for top pick
Shayne Hope |
West Coast are “unlikely” to give up the No.1 draft pick in an AFL trade but are willing to listen to rival clubs’ offers for the prized selection.
The Eagles currently have two first-round picks at their disposal, plus the end-of-first-round selection they received as part of an assistance package from the league.
And they are likely to land pick two as compensation for losing co-captain Oscar Allen to premiers Brisbane through free agency.
It gives West Coast a strong hand as they attempt to bounce back from a one-win season and a second wooden spoon in three years.
“At this stage we’d be unlikely to trade pick one, but you never know,” Eagles list boss Matt Clarke said.
“If there’s some clubs that want to move up and might have multiple picks, we’ll have a look at it.
“Our recruiting team will do their (draft) ratings again this week and we’ll see what that looks like.”
West Coast will want to know the exact nature of their Allen compensation pick before giving any serious consideration to trade offers for the top selection.
The free agency deadline is Friday, while the trade period runs until the following Wednesday.
The Eagles are committed to bringing in Brisbane defender Brandon Starcevich but are adamant that move won’t be part of a trade for Allen.
“We respect Oscar’s right to move under free agency but the two deals, in our opinion, are completely independent,” Clarke said.
“It’s up to Brisbane when they want to lodge a free agency deal for Oscar.”
Clarke said pick 16 – secured from Hawthorn in a trade for Tom Barrass last year – is “absolutely” too much to pay for Starcevich and is “not on the table”.
West Coast also have selections 22, 23, 37 and 57, while future picks can also be traded.
Clarke expects negotiations to take some time, while insisting the Eagles haven’t been deterred by Starcevich’s latest head knock.
The 26-year-old has a history of concussion and sat out the latter stages of the Lions’ grand final win over Geelong last month after another setback.
“We’ve been working with his management group on what that looks like but there’s no concerns from our end,” Clarke said.
West Coast are also set to land fringe Lion Deven Robertson and haven’t yet given up hope of retaining 2021 first-round pick Campbell Chesser, who wants to be traded to Carlton.
There is also intrigue around 2018 premiership forward Liam Ryan, who has requested a move to St Kilda despite being contracted.
“Ryan is a contracted player, so we’re happy to keep him,” Clarke told Trade Radio.
“He’s not disgruntled with the club at all. We’re not disgruntled the other way, either.
“We think he can really add to us. He’s contracted next year, so it’ll be up to St Kilda to come to us with something that’s sufficient.”
AAP
