A Chris Judd-like option. The best WA candidates. And a split decision to make. MARK DUFFIELD analyses the Eagles‘ draft
To split or not to split? That is the draft question the West Coast hierarchy must weigh up before the end of the season as they prepare for another low ladder position and a spot high in the draft order.
The Eagles are currently 17th, just percentage ahead of Hawthorn, which means that if the draft happened now they would hold pick two. It is the same pick they traded to Port Adelaide last year to shift Junior Rioli to Port in exchange for what eventually became pick nine, 14 and Port’s second and third round selections for this year.
Would they do it again?
It is going to depend heavily on how they assess the overall talent pool and, more specifically, the talent pool in Western Australia.
When the Eagles made the Rioli trade last year, they decided that having two first round picks would be better than one. It enabled them to pick locals. And the trade may yet give them a decent look at good selections in this year’s draft depending on where Port Adelaide finishes.
The early mail on this year’s draft puts Bendigo’s Harley Reid at the top of the draft pool and rates him the sort of player clubs should not trade away, even if it meant getting two very good players in exchange for him.
So, if the Eagles did finish bottom, it would be a massive call to miss the opportunity to get their hands on a player who could potentially have the sort of influence on their player group that Chris Judd once did.
But the Eagles do have extensive list needs.
The quality on their list is either old, or very young. Shannon Hurn is 35, Nic Naitanui 33, Luke Shuey less than a month from turning 33, Jeremy McGovern 31, Jack Darling 30, Andrew Gaff 30 and Elliot Yeo 29. Hurn will almost certainly retire this year. Naitanui, Shuey, McGovern and Yeo are all dealing with significant and ongoing injury concerns.
The Eagles are running out of time to get more good football out of at least some, and possibly all, of them.
At the other end, Ginbey is 18, Oscar Allen 24, Liam Duggan 26, Tom Barrass 27 and the hope that players like Hewett, Noah Long, Brady Hough and others will evolve. Which means that the Eagles, in their bid to replenish the quality on their list, may well consider two very good players a better bet than one exceptional one.
It may also allow them to go local again.
Recruiters always say they pick the “best available” and that the talent pool is national but with player movement increasing, the ‘go home factor’ is bigger than ever and clubs who ignore their locals are likely to have to pay more to keep players and be less able to lure local talent home.
This may vary from club to club but for the WA teams it is real. They are the other side of the Nullarbor Plain from the rest of the competition. It is why the WA clubs will take Vic Country kids or South Australian kids over Vic Metro kids. It dilutes the go home factor.
And it is why they will take WA kids over all of the above if the decision is close on talent alone. The chance to take both Ginbey and Hewett suited them last year.
Will the local talent pool suit them if they do likewise this year?
The mail on the WA talent this year is that there will be three, and possibly four, first round draft picks and then the pool becomes shallow after that. So, if the Eagles want the best that WA has, two first round picks may suit them better than one.
Here are the four in contention to be taken in the first round – the ones the Eagles will weigh up before a decision on whether to split picks:
Daniel Curtin (Claremont), 195 centimetres, 93 kilograms: Curtin was best afield in the AFL’s Futures grand final curtain raiser last year as a key defender. He is touted as a potential top five pick and what will determine how high he climbs is what he can show in roles other than a key defensive role. Has been tried forward this season with mixed success but also went into the midfield in a recent WAFL Colts game and dominated the match, gathering 26 disposals and 12 clearances.
Mitch Edwards (Peel), 207cm, 90kg: There is genuine excitement about the young Peel ruckman, who is dominating the WAFL Colts competition. Not only has the capacity to win big tallies of hit outs (47 on the weekend) but also finds the ball with 17 and 19 disposals from the last two matches. Strong chance to be a top 10 pick. Would the Eagles, who drafted South Australian ruckman Harry Barnett in 2022 and have been linked to Bulldog Tim English as a free agent when he next comes out of contract, look to bolster the quality of their ruck stocks with Naitanui near the end?
Koltyn Tholstrup (Subiaco), 188cm, 80kg: Esperance product who has genuine X-factor and can play a variety of roles either midfield or forward. Was prominent as an under age player in the national championships last year and has played in the Subiaco Seniors four times this year with solid results. A lot to play out to determine where he fits in the talent pool but locals believe he has a very good chance to be a first-round selection.
Riley Hardeman (Swan Districts), 185cm, 70kg: According to recruiters, Hardeman could be anywhere from a top 10 pick to the back end of the first round. He is a dasher off half back, quick, clean ball handling left footer and with a raking kick. He played senior footy in round one for Swans who had bumped him up to reserves at the back end of the season in 2022 to get him ready for footy against grown men. He went back to Colts and dominated round three against West Perth, running up 30 disposals.
