WEST Coast’s rebuild continues to accelerate after it entered the 2025 AFL Draft with the opening two selections. While that ended up reading one and four, it spearheaded six-strong haul for the Eagles dominated by four Victorian exports and rounded out by a Next Generation Academy (NGA) graduate.

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DRAFT HAUL

NATIONAL DRAFT:
Pick 1. Willem Duursma
Pick 4. Cooper Duff-Tytler
Pick 19. Josh Lindsay
Pick 29. Sam Allen
Pick 39. Tylah Williams

ROOKIE DRAFT:
1. Fred Rodriguez

>> CLICK each player’s names for full profiles & highlights

It was a ‘Duff-ma’ deluxe for West Coast at the top of the order, as expected. The Eagles had no hesitation in calling out the draft’s leading prospect, Willem Duursma with pick one, who was presented his new guernsey by 2023 first pick Harley Reid.

Duursma is the fourth sibling in his family to be drafted and looms as arguably the best. He has played in every position across a stellar junior career littered with esteemed accolades, culminating in being taken first of the board. A long-term view says the 193cm utility has a home in midfield.

There was an element of tactical jostling with how West Coast went about its next two picks. Suns Academy prospect Zeke Uwland was next on the list so fairly yielded a bid at pick two, but once that was matched, the Eagles then forced Carlton’s hand by calling out father-son Harry Dean.

While somewhat of a stretch, Dean is consensually viewed as the best key defender in the crop and that is a potential positional need for West Coast. Although, the Eagles did not go on to select a key defender with their remaining four National Draft picks, nor their rookie choice.

The Duff-ma duo was complete when Cooper Duff-Tytler entered at pick four. A basketball convert who has made great strides over the last 18 months, the 201cm ruck-forward is an athletic bigman who covers the ground like a much smaller player. Like Duursma, his VFL exposure pleased the Eagles.

And so West Coast’s first two picks were made, albeit split by a pair of bids, in a successful start to proceedings. That’s about where the good news ended on night one, as the Eagles traded out a future second round pick to move one spot up the order and again got to bidding.

There was a notion that Gold Coast would potentially have to let one of its academy graduates walk with four expected to go in the first round. The latter did eventuate, but the Suns found a way to match West Coast’s back-to-back bids on Jai Murray and Beau Addinsall.

While those bids would suggest a midfielder was the priority, that left West Coast to select half-back Josh Lindsay. He’s a good fit for the Eagles either way, immediately improving their ball movement with his elite left-foot kicking. What’s more, he’s a good friend and long-time rep teammate of Duursma. Although, he would have been available anyway whether West Coast traded up or not.

After time to reconvene, the Eagles were back in the action early on night two and took a more long-term approach to their opening selection. Wingman Sam Allen was the choice at pick 29, another Victorian, renowned for his leadership and speed-endurance running – despite missing much of the year with an ACL tear.

Having made four open draft selections, only one senior list spot was left for West Coast’s four possible club-tied nominees. It meant the Eagles had to pass on explosive mid-forward Koby Evans (Brisbane) at pick 38 in favour of matching four Tylah Williams at the very next selection.

With father-son Charlie Banfield also walking to St Kilda, in hindsight it was clear West Coast either didn’t have the intel to suggest at least two of its three players would not survive to the rookie draft, didn’t rate them so highly, or didn’t cull its list far enough to compensate.

The Eagles went on to nab West Australian captain Fred Rodriguez in one of the Rookie Draft’s great coups, adding another positive note to the haul. Meanwhile, NGA prospect Wesley Walley was overlooked and has travelled over to fight for a list spot at Carlton.

GRADE: C

There’s a ‘can’t lose’ kind of element to holding the first two picks in any draft, but there weren’t too many highlights after that for West Coast. Eagles fans will be pleased with the list of new personnel on paper, but the story of how it all unfolded across the two nights was a little messier. The botched Suns bids were arguably more egregious than letting two club-tied players walk, given many clubs had similarly tough decisions to make. But again, there’s a good depth of exciting talent through the door.