West Coast insists it only plans to pick just one young gun in the upcoming mid-season draft because only one of its injured players genuinely qualifies for the inactive list.
It comes as Sydney prepares to make two selections on Wednesday night after officially moving Paddy McCartin to its inactive list and veteran Sam Reid now expected to join him.
The AFL on Wednesday morning is expected to confirm the final order for this week’s mid-season draft, which will be held later that night at 7pm (AEST). It comes after clubs had been given until 5pm Tuesday to finalise whether they would move injured players to the inactive list and, therefore, open up list spots.
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Five clubs – Essendon, Fremantle, Geelong, Hawthorn and the Western Bulldogs – will pick after they entered the 2023 season with a list vacancy, while Richmond opened up two last week due to Jason Castagna’s shock retirement in February and Kaleb Smith’s foot injury, which saw him moved to the inactive list. Whether the Tigers take two players on the night, however, remains uncertain.
The Eagles on Tuesday placed Jai Culley – the first pick in the 2022 mid-season draft – on their inactive list due to a knee injury, handing them the first pick of Wednesday’s draft. Barring a late shock, the Eagles are expected to draft 193cm Gippsland Power forward Ryan Maic — widely regarded as the best player in the mid-season draft class — with the opening selection.
There was ample speculation on Monday that West Coast, which has again been hit hard by injury, would take two or even three players on Wednesday night to give them more depth across both the AFL and WAFL teams for the rest of the season.
But Eagles football boss Gavin Bell told SEN WA would “just go with one pick at this stage”, adding his club would give several players out for the medium-term every chance to return in the back-half of the year.
Jamaine Jones underwent ankle surgery on Monday, with Bell confirming the procedure had “all gone well”. Jones, Jamie Cripps (knee) and Isiah Winder (knee) all aren‘t scheduled to return from their respective injuries until the latter rounds of this season.
Rising Star winner and Dockers champion Paul Hasleby said he was “staggered” West Coast planned to take just one pick, suggesting the Eagles “cannot make a tough decision”.
“This is a golden opportunity for them to fast-track their development and all they care about is a player wanting the drive to come back this year for two or three weeks,” Hasleby told SEN WA on Tuesday.
“There’s some players out there who for whatever reason it didn’t work out for them in their 18-year-old year, but they’ve come back harder, more aggressive, they’ve done the right things – you could just change your club massively. Imagine them finding two guns right now added to last year’s draft, the year before, to next year’s draft to the year after? It could make all the difference.”
West Coast later on Tuesday stressed there were AFL rules in place to prevent clubs from placing mass players on the inactive list ahead of the mid-season draft. Only players that have a genuine season-ending injury that has been ticked off by the AFL can be placed on the inactive list, with the Eagles stating Culley was “the only player who meets the criteria”.
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Sydney will have two picks in the draft after placing McCartin on its inactive list as he continues to recover from ongoing concussion symptoms since an incident in the club’s Round 4 loss to Port Adelaide.
Foxfooty.com.au understands Reid, who earlier this month was ruled out for the rest of the season with a hamstring issue, has also been placed on the inactive list, giving the Swans the option of picking two players on Wednesday night.
The Swans have been linked to an array of key defenders, most notably ex-Demon and Blues utility Oscar McDonald, who’s starred with Williamstown in the VFL this season averaging 16.8 disposals and 8.3 marks per game. But the Swans have also done work on 24-year-old Lions VFL defender Harry Arnold (194cm), while they’ve also been linked to McDonald’s Williamstown teammate Marty Hore — the former Melbourne defender — who’s been in excellent VFL form this season, averaging 22.9 disposals and 10.6 marks from eight matches.
North Melbourne and Port Adelaide on Tuesday both officially opened up spots after placing Jack Mahony (shoulder) and Mitch Georgiades (knee) on their respective inactive lists.
The Giants could open up two spots if they place Adam Kennedy and Darcy Jones, who both have season-ending knee injuries, on their inactive list. However it’s expected they’ll only have one selection at the draft.
Defender James Trezise (Richmond VFL), wingman Ethan Stanley (Box Hill Hawks), lively forward Robert Hansen Jnr (Subiaco), mid-sized goalkicker Jaiden Hunter (Perth) and 204cm ruckman Clay Tucker (Eastern Ranges) are the top contenders to be taken on Wednesday night.
Adelaide, Brisbane, Carlton, Collingwood, Gold Coast, Melbourne and St Kilda don’t have room on their respective lists to pick a player and, therefore, won’t participate in the draft.
