i think one thing to keep in mind is that west coast haven't asked for any assistance yet. the eagles have been open and honest about the situations over the last few years. im a west coast fan and i don't think we need ant help yet. i also don't think pushing for success should be held against them. going for Kelly to keep success going should be encouraged instead of retiring and trading out your experienced players only to bottom out so you can get good draft picks. but at the end west coast don't need it and its a needs based system

If they don't want to give West Coast any assistance, then fair enough. But let them get access to all top 20-25 draftees. Last season was proof why the draft is a joke. West Coast of 2023 has been regarded as one of the worst sides ever. They got pick 1 but then their next one was pick 30....!? How the hell are they supposed to do a rebuild when half of the draft is allocated to father/son and academy picks? If the AFL wants to stick with academy picks, then give West Coast assistance to offset this. Give them pick 19 (which is what they'd get anyway if it wasn't for father/son and academy picks). And let them get free reign on their own academy products. St.Kilda drafted a West Coast academy player before West Coast had the opportunity to get him. Yet GC and GWS academy products are locked away and reserved to them. With Tasmania around the corner and the assistance they're going to get, the AFL has to make sure West Coast have a fair shot at rebuilding properly, because at the moment, it is anything but.

the only people talking about West Coast Eagles receiving a priority pick are the media.

North get priority picks every year and still suck

I’m an Eagles fan… I don’t think we should get priority picks because we need to stand on our own two feet (I can’t speak for every fan, but the majority I know are against it). But the Melbourne media are somehow speaking for us 😂. Historically we have won 4 flags, but made recent dumb mistakes that we are paying for now. The only thing is has been correct from the media about us in the last 2 weeks… is that we are protective of Harley Reid. But outside of that, reporting on the Eagles have been very inaccurate. If I had a dollar for every bit of nonsense Sam McClure has said I might not be a millionaire but I’d live very comfortably lol

if you dont want priority picks for clubs then get rid of all the other measures that help top clubs stay strong forever. Free Agency was supposedly brought in to help equalise the competition but has done the exact opposite, top clubs take the top talent from bottom clubs and they are left with draft picks to help them redevelop the next talent to be plucked again. The notion that top players would go to bottom clubs on better money simply hasnt happened. Gary Ablett was the anomaly and the only one. Father Son and academy picks also give teams free hits at top talent. how can the bulldogs who made the grand final get pick 1 ugle hagan? The pies got the real pick 1 the year nick daicos came into the league. Gold Coast got FIVE first round draft picks that couldnt be touched thanks to academies..... The fixture also is maximised around the big clubs keeping them forever getting ahead with profits which they invest off field and can easily pay the soft cap tax on top. The System is completely broken but priority picks = oh that gives teams an unfair hit, get rid of it. And in a few years time the tassie team will come in and take a few of those young established players and further delay any possible rebuild effort.

I'm a West Coast member, if they offered us a pick, i would happily accept. All the f/s & NGA bias easily justifies my statement. But theres a very high chance we get offered nothing this year period.

I reckon as a neutral we need to see assistance given to West Coast soon if they have a fighting chance. As a neutral it is boring watching a flogging every week

people are forgetting that a priority would probably be fair for west coast based off losing 2 players who were first rounders to concussion being Venables in 2019 and Sheppard in 2020. After their concussions they did not play again. The role Shep played was mega for west coast and Venables was up and coming having to retire at 19 but was the apprentice to shuey, he is 24 now which is the age demographic west coast are currently missing is that age group. Yes they made a bad trade for Kelly and it caused a gap of players age but the other factors are huge. To lose 2 players that were first rounders its probably justified to get a late first round pick but they are forced to trade it for either more picks especially having pick 1 that they can put on the trade table and get multiple picks in the early first round or get a couple of role players they are missing that are that mid 20s age. Their future has a lot of potential with Reid, Ginbey, Hewitt, Hough, long. They just need something to help them slowly climb up

I'd wager "TheSportingEyes" follows a team that has had a priority pick.

I hate priority picks. The fact is: some club must be on the bottom. That’s how it works. It sucks when it is your team, but there is always a bottom side. Worse though, is that priority assistance is a punishment to other teams in the middle of the ladder whose own picks are now pushed further back and whose trade hands are weakened a little as a result.

Personally being a west coast fan, i dont think we should, if we are at the stage next year maybe. Whatever decision is out of our hands, however, either way its a tough hole, but our young guns coming will prosper in future years from this experience. I just wish teams like GWS, freo, gold coast, even the saints, to get some glory, i just dont like repeating teams being so up there all the time, like melbourne experienced, carlton experienced, being at the bottom having players constantly leave to a higher ranked team only to try rebuild, its great to see the resurgence of teams that have been there.

We don’t want it! We dug ourselves into this mess and we’ll dig ourselves out

I've always believed that the picks in the draft are handed out way too easy. If a team wants to secure the picks as such, they must earn them. My proposal in the bottom 10 teams who fail to qualify to the finals must compete in a special round robin competition, similar to the original consolation night series that occurred between 1956-1970 and the winner gets the number one pick and rankings overall determine who get what number picks.

Since RD 19, 2021 they're 5-48 as of RD 4, 2024. They are historically bad, one of the worst teams the game has ever seen since the VFL began in 1897, not even Gold Coast was as bad as Eagles and look at all the assistance they've had. Eagles will get the Priority Pick, it's not even in doubt. I dont know why this is an issue, any other footy fans would hope to get the pick if their club was this terrible aswell.

It's a tough one, I'm a diehard WC fan and currently I'm in the no camp when it comes to a priority pick. It's 100% true that they're in the position they're in due to poor list decisions, and their issues have been exacerbated by extraordinary circumstances such as covid and poor strength and conditioning. However I do see the counterargument. The draft is supposed to be an equalisation measure but what should've been pick 19 last year fell to pick 30. I also feel that NM traded for guys like Waite, Higgins, and Dal Santo and made back to back prelims. Since then their list decisions have been abysmal, throwing money at players like Hall and Polec. Currently there are 17 first round picks on their list and nearly all of them are midfielders. I agree that somewhere in the middle is the best solution, WC could get a 2nd rounder that they have to trade for an established player.

As a west coast fan I wouldn't say no to free picks but we neither need nor deserve them. We will get better the hard way. How can any1 say we deserve priority picks when a)we last won a premiership only a few years ago, if success is the barometer for priority picks I would argue that the saints deserve them more due to not winning a premiership since 1966 and b) once we start getting better, we will become a destination club again and will be able to fill holes thru trade and free agency. I doubt the club will ask for picks, but the afl may do it anyway cos all they care about is image and how much we suck rn isn't great for the afls image

Should have traded Gaff after 2018 and never got Kelly

We've sucked for 20 years. Where's our pick?

In the past 20 years we've seen long term suffering from Melbourne, Carlton, Gold coast at the bottom of the ladder and now North Melbourne and West Coast are in that boat for a 3rd straight year. The AFL in partnership with all clubs needs to prevent this from continuing, the bottom 2 teams should be competitive with 5-7 wins per year and not be called a blight on the competition. You can't have it both ways, where a Premiership favourite Richmond practically gets all at the MCG In 2019, Geelong given a soft 2024 fixture to increase odds of playing finals and then tell a team like West Coast with 5-48 win/loss record recently sorry no priority pick support.

There should never be priority picks. Self inflicted incompetence shouldn't be rewarded.