List Mgmt. Should The Eagles Request A Priority Assistance Package at The End of This Year?

[KERRPOW]

I thought there should be a thread started after listening the wife stealing hairy Gary's response to the possibility of the eagles receiving priority picks at the end of this hear.

I think absolutely be putting forward a case for a priority assistance package. It would be arrogant & negligent of our club to not do so.

• West coast have not played finals the last 3 years (and likely to not do so for another 3).
• The introduction of a tassie team in 2028 and the raft of draft concessions they will be allowed. We need to get on the front foot and try and get access to early picks before they come in.
• We bottomed out severely the last 2 years, with a further 2 years of pain ahead.
• We won the premiership in 2018....6 years ago. This should not correlate to a denial of PP assistance from the AFL.

I think a reasonable form of assistance would be an extra end of first round pick or additional pick after our 2nd & 3rd round picks. Possibly have additional rookies?

 

[UseR2006]

Priority access to our Nga kids as well.

 

[Ochre]

I think we'd be rightfully laughed out of town if we requested priority picks days after winning the flag.

 

[Feeling Groovy]

I am not a fan of priority picks but given how the AFL has destroyed the integrity of the draft and hands them out to other clubs, we have no choice but to ask for them. We can't keep having other teams get them in one form or another (academy picks, pp's, FA compensation etc), diluting our ability to rebuild and then not get the same.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

I don't like the pessimistic nature of the thread. Why not wait until midseason at least?

 

[Pwani Magharibi]

Right now we're as bad as North Melbourne has been (if not worse). It's not in anyone's interest for a team to be as uncompetitive as we have been. We've already been subject to compromised ("complex") drafts due to handouts to North, academies and over-generous free agency compensation. As the OP states, the introduction of Tasmania will exacerbate this.

I'd be fine with us having to draft and trade our way out of our situation if the same applied to every other club, but it doesn't. So why cut off our nose to spite our face due to principles?

We may not get much, or anything at all, but we should at least be asking.

 

[KERRPOW]

I think we'd be rightfully laughed out of town if we requested priority picks days after winning the flag.

 

[Dom sheed pocket]

Yes, they should.

Will the AFL give West Coast anything substantial? I’m inclined to think not this year.

AFL factors that determine draft assistance are: W/L record over the last few season, impact of injuries on performance, most recent finals appearance, and last premiership.

North Melbourne hasn’t made finals since 2016 and hasn’t won a flag since 1999.

I expect the AFL to give us some additional rookie spots, perhaps priority access to talent in the WAFL similar to what they gave Carlton in 2018.

Draft picks are highly unlikely this year in my opinion. If we get what North got in 2022, a future 2nd and future 3rd to be used as trades for players we could say the club has done very well for itself.

 

[Ishmael_]

Of course we should. They're basically obligated to and that's how they should frame it.

'We've been consistent in our opposition to the concept of priority picks, especially so where there is no transparent mechanism by which they are awarded.

However, the AFL has demonstrated that they view PPs as a valid mechanism for equalisation. As such, we are obligated on behalf of our members to pursue any available means to improve our position. To do otherwise would risk further compromising the integrity of the AFL's list management framework.'

Just make up whatever to A) get something and B) make it clear how stupid the ad hoc policy is.

 

[FKASC]

I’d like them to just give us a new medical and conditioning team. No draft picks required

 

[mad_eagle]

Regarding additional picks, I think we'll probably get something similar to what Norf received:

• if we win <5 games this year & are getting smashed, then we get a 2025 2nd & 3rd rd pick and at least one pick is required to be used as part of a trade for an established player (hello Liam Baker
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• if it's rinse & repeat again in 2025, then we get an end of 1st rd pick for that year & two end of 1st rd picks for 2026 before things really start to get compromised by Tassie.

There's a few things I think that need to be pushed:

• Additional access to our NGA prospects (not just for us, but believe we should drag Freo & the SA teams along on this).
• Further discussion around the soft cap concessions for the WA teams, considering how much additional travel we do compared to every other team in the comp.

 

[RanaNaved]

Yes we will, as we should.

The AFL having compromised the s**t out of the draft to the detriment of terrible, rebuilding teams like ours has to help.

WC were genuinely talked about as being the worst team in AFL history, and due to concessions, FA compensation and matched bids our 2nd pick was in the 30s....that is unacceptable for a team in our position.

Without assistance in increasingly compromised drafts we'll need to have a hit rate that far exceeds the norm. We'll be down for years and years if we don't get help.

 

[In The Rod We Trust]

Would love and hate if the Eagles set a precedence of rejecting priority assistance. Should not be a thing.

 

[Eaglemaniac]

I’m not a fan of priority picks for anyone to be honest, because it says to me that particular club doesn’t know what they’re doing. Having said that, as others mentioned, we keep getting screwed by the AFL and other clubs with academy picks etc so it might be the only way to compensate.

Overall though, you have to wonder how we got so bad that we don’t even have a ready made tall forward to cover Oscars absence due to injury this weekend. You would have thought the last couple of seasons would have been the perfect time to get more games into our young key position players in case this happened. That or we should have drafted a mature KPF from one of the state leagues to cover this situation. Most people could see we weren’t exactly flush for tall forwards - plenty of third tall forwards mind you.

 

[Astro7]

The Vics don't mind handing it out to their own to prop up the comp, not sure how we'd go?
Be lucky to get a set of steak knives?
But with all thats going on (Tassie, injuries etc) we need to get up to speed asap re draft picks and kpp's...before our bottom line all goes pear shaped trying to squeeze through the narrowing window of opportunity.

 

[random260]

How is this even a question.

A ceo that doesn't advocate for it should be sacked on the spot putting ego in front of what is best for wce success.

Don Pyke I think will face reality since hes been in swans and knows how s**t we are from outside view.


Any high ranking official at wce that doesn't advocate for it should be replaced by Eddie McGuire who will and is advocating for us

 

[Deplorable trumpster]

We should definately ask. Why wouldn't you? It doesn't matter whether you philosophically agree with the concept of them or not. You have to deal with the world as it is and not as you think it should be. Most other clubs have had hand outs in one form or the other whether that be PP's, ridiculously generous FA comp, had the AFL turn a blind eye while the free agent compo system got rorted like with Tom Lynch and Daniher, or academy picks. I am pretty sure it is our turn.

Winning a flag within the last decade should not be an issue. The purported purpose of the system/Priority Pick option for the AFL is to prevent any club from falling too far behind the general standard of the competition and becoming an embarassment to the league and devalueing the value of the games they are involved in for broadcasters. The purpose is not to help club's who haven't won a flag for a while and punish those who have. And we definately have fallen off the general standard of the competition.

If they refuse to give us anything we should make a hell of a lot of noise and start campaigning and creating a coalition of clubs against any club having any academy picks and any club who has been in the top 8 last year or in the top 4 in the last 3 years getting any free agents. We should also demand a complete scrapping of the PP system or alternatively the AFL putting the criteria to qualify in writing so they can't arbitrarily hand them out to Melbourne clubs and expansion clubs whilst excluding WA and SA. The AFL won't like it if somebody starts bucking and publicly criticising them and campaigning to take away their hidden hand of manipulation. They might just give us something to shut us up. And god knows we need anything they might give us.

 

[Balls In]

My prediction. West Coast will end this year the worst team in AFL history based on all key on field AFL averages through a three year rolling average.

 

[Priddis Is Done]

How about we start with no more secret herbs and spices formula based on being kissed on the kfc schlong.

Make it black and white.

 

[Westend]

My prediction. West Coast will end this year the worst team in AFL history based on all key on field AFL averages through a three year rolling average.

Thats a bit harsh....first half of the season ..yeah not many wins..injuries will hurt us bad

But once we get a ruck and lads back from injuries plus playing more games together we will get better in the 2nd half of the season

I know its F**ked atm just have to hang in there and be patient dude

 

[HoneyBadger35]

No, get ****ed, next question.

I’d gladly be the team that cops the rough end of the stick if it means we end all assistance packages forever.

There’s no relegation, there’s a draft based on ladder position (fix the draft though ffs, no more bids, no more ‘NGA for some teams but no access for others’, no more priority picks, no more FA compo). The penalty for finishing last is shame, the reward is the best prospect, there’s no financial sanction or risk of future viability.

Nobody gets priority picks ever again and I’d sleep well.

(Now if they offer one I want the most eye watering package of assistance we’ve ever seen).

 

[Godfather32]

No, get ****ed, next question.

I’d gladly be the team that cops the rough end of the stick if it means we end all assistance packages forever.

There’s no relegation, there’s a draft based on ladder position (fix the draft though ffs, no more bids, no more ‘NGA for some teams but no access for others’, no more priority picks, no more FA compo). The penalty for finishing last is shame, the reward is the best prospect, there’s no financial sanction or risk of future viability.

Nobody gets priority picks ever again and I’d sleep well.

(Now if they offer one I want the most eye watering package of assistance we’ve ever seen).

Nah, the league has to have the most compromised draft in all professional sports and the AFL is giving out picks like Oprah giving out cars. If we take the high road and don't ask for anything we'll take years and years to rebuild and still end up with a middling team.
Take the low road, get down in the mud with everyone else and grab whatever the f**k the AFL is willing to throw our way.

 

[DanWCE]

Nah, the league has to have the most compromised draft in all professional sports and the AFL is giving out picks like Oprah giving out cars. If we take the high road and don't ask for anything we'll take years and years to rebuild and still end up with a middling team.
Take the low road, get down in the mud with everyone else and grab whatever the f**k the AFL is willing to throw our way.

Not to mention as soon as we take the high road and the priority pick era is wrapped up, Cats or Pies will hit the doldrums and oooh look PPs are back on the agenda and here you go Viccos.

If you can't beat em (currently) join em.

 

[sharps24]

Yes. Besides anything else, lost 2 first round draft picks to concussion injuries. Afl should be stepping up whenever that happens and offering a compensation pick that's calculated in a similar way to the way free agency is done.

 

[HoneyBadger35]

Nah, the league has to have the most compromised draft in all professional sports and the AFL is giving out picks like Oprah giving out cars. If we take the high road and don't ask for anything we'll take years and years to rebuild and still end up with a middling team.
Take the low road, get down in the mud with everyone else and grab whatever the f**k the AFL is willing to throw our way.

I know it’s simply not the way they operate, but I’d much rather an uncompromised draft and no concessions ever issued to an established team ever again. Would gladly eat s**t in 18th if it meant the league in general was in a better shape come draft time.

Now, as we both know, that ain’t happening so sure give us all the picks in the world. I will gladly have them. But if by some miracle this is the year they decide to reassess, I’m all for getting the bad end of a deal that forever untangles the shitshow that is the AFL’s draft, points, compo and priority pick situation.