Latest news with #prioritypick
Daily Mail
01-08-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
West Coast Eagles sent SOS to AFLW star Daisy Pearce to resurrect shocking men's team
West Coast Eagles coach Andrew McQualter has revealed he will pick the brain of AFLW great Daisy Pearce in order to help the men's program rebound from the lowest ebb in the club's history. The Eagles (1-18) have won just 11 games since the start of 2022, and will collect their second wooden spoon in the space of three years. Given how dire the past four years have been, West Coast will formally ask the AFL for a priority pick. That impending request has already attracted a wave of criticism from fans and experts, given West Coast won the flag in 2018 and reached the finals as recently as 2020. McQualter has endured a tough debut year in the hot seat, and is desperate to fast-track the team's rebuild. The 39-year-old revealed on Thursday that part of his plan is to tap into the knowledge of AFLW trailblazer Pearce, who is West Coast's women's coach. Pearce led the Eagles to a 4-7 record in her first year as coach - the best return for the club in its six-season AFLW history. The 37-year-old previously served as a development coach with Geelong before landing the top role with the Eagles. 'Daisy has finished her first year, added a second pre-season, and I will really look to use Daisy as a resource as to what she learned over that period,' McQualter said. 'Just with where we're at as a team and a club - we have to get better really quickly. 'So if there's something I can learn from Daisy coming into her second season as coach, I'll look to learn it and implement it, because it's going to be a really critical period for our club over the next six to 12 months.' Pearce, who captained Melbourne to the 2022 AFLW flag during her glittering 55-game career, is eager to learn more from West Coast's men's program. 'I'm really excited to work with 'Mini' over the next few years ... so that I can develop myself, help out however I can, and just keep bringing our programs closer and closer together,' Pearce said. McQualter defended West Coast's plea for a priority pick. Pearce won an AFLW premiership with the Melbourne Demons, cementing her place in football history 'We're just looking at it from the performances of the last four years and the history of what priority picks get given for,' McQualter said. 'We think we qualify, so we've applied for it. 'We're in a rush to get better, and if it's a way that we can get better, we're willing to apply for it.' Even if they get knocked back, West Coast are still likely to have the first two picks in the national draft. Pick No.1 will be for finishing last, while if restricted free agent Oscar Allen heads to Brisbane as expected, the Eagles will almost certainly be handed pick No.2 as compensation. West Coast will be without Harley Reid (ankle) for the rest of the season, leaving them even more vulnerable for Saturday's clash with Melbourne at Marvel Stadium.
The Australian
31-07-2025
- Sport
- The Australian
AFL: Eagles coach McQualter pleas for draft assistance after horror season
Rookie West Coast coach Andrew McQualter is all-in on his club's pursuit of draft help, including a priority pick, declaring he is 'in a rush to get better'. Premiers as recently as 2018, and with a monster $20m offer on the table for gun youngster Harley Reid, the Eagles' request for help has raised some eyebrows around the AFL. McQualter confirmed that Reid had returned home to Tongala in country Victoria after his season-ending ankle syndesmosis injury without a firm decision on his future. He's out of contract at the end of 2026. But after West Coast chief executive Don Pyke confirmed the club would lodge an application for AFL draft assistance, McQualter fell in behind the boss, declaring the battling outfit would take any available steps to improve its list as quickly as possible. Andrew McQualter says the Eagles need help. Picture: Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images The Eagles have won just a single game this season, McQualter's first at the helm, and just 11 across their past four and are set to collect a second wooden spoon in three years. 'We're in a rush to get better and historically, the ways to get better are draft, trade, free agent and priority bids, that's part of the rules,' McQualter said. 'So we need to explore all the options we can and whatever it lands us, whether it's more picks, a high pick, wherever, if it's an opportunity for us to get better, we'll take it. 'We're aligned that we're in a position where we think we can apply for it, and then the AFL will look at it and they decide. 'We're in a rush to get better and if that's a way that we can get better, we're willing to look and apply for it.' The Eagles are still in discussions about what form of draft help they would seek. Any assistance package would have to be ticked off by the AFL Commission. After winning just 12 games over a four-year period between 2020-23, North Melbourne was given three end-of-first round selections across the 2023 and 2024 drafts as well as extra rookie list spots. 'I haven't been involved in the actual application. I've been across it but not involved in it, so I'm not sure the answer to it,' McQualter said. 'We'll just apply and see where it lands.' Harley Reid has flown to Victoria after his ankle injury. Picture:McQualter said the Eagles would also go after more experienced players, having lured Richmond premiership pair Liam Baker and Jack Graham to the club this season. 'Potentially, for sure, we're looking at that as well. That's an option. I think we've said it really publicly, where we're open to every avenue,' he said. 'And that will be draft this year that we'll target and we'll also target trade and free agency.' McQualter said 20-year-old Reid had returned home, in a moon boot, to see his family after hurting himself last Saturday but would return to Perth to complete his rehab. 'We do that with all of our players. Harley's not going to play again this season, and this week of rehab is not going to be much,' McQualter said. 'He's in a moon boot still, so when you get an opportunity to send players back to their home states, we always support that. ''Harls' is in that position. Bo Allan went back to his home in Mandurah when he hurt his ankle last week, so that's common practice for us and we support it. 'It won't be for the rest of the season, so he'll come back next week and start his rehab process.'
News.com.au
31-07-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Eagles coach Andrew McQualter says club deserves draft help as Harley Reid returns home
Rookie West Coast coach Andrew McQualter is all-in on his club's pursuit of draft help, including a priority pick, declaring he is 'in a rush to get better'. Premiers as recently as 2018, and with a monster $20m offer on the table for gun youngster Harley Reid, the Eagles' request for help has raised some eyebrows around the AFL. McQualter confirmed that Reid had returned home to Tongala in country Victoria after his season-ending ankle syndesmosis injury without a firm decision on his future. He's out of contract at the end of 2026. But after West Coast chief executive Don Pyke confirmed the club would lodge an application for AFL draft assistance, McQualter fell in behind the boss, declaring the battling outfit would take any available steps to improve its list as quickly as possible. The Eagles have won just a single game this season, McQualter's first at the helm, and just 11 across their past four and are set to collect a second wooden spoon in three years. 'We're in a rush to get better and historically, the ways to get better are draft, trade, free agent and priority bids, that's part of the rules,' McQualter said. 'So we need to explore all the options we can and whatever it lands us, whether it's more picks, a high pick, wherever, if it's an opportunity for us to get better, we'll take it. 'We're aligned that we're in a position where we think we can apply for it, and then the AFL will look at it and they decide. 'We're in a rush to get better and if that's a way that we can get better, we're willing to look and apply for it.' The Eagles are still in discussions about what form of draft help they would seek. Any assistance package would have to be ticked off by the AFL Commission. After winning just 12 games over a four-year period between 2020-23, North Melbourne was given three end-of-first round selections across the 2023 and 2024 drafts as well as extra rookie list spots. 'I haven't been involved in the actual application. I've been across it but not involved in it, so I'm not sure the answer to it,' McQualter said. 'We'll just apply and see where it lands.' McQualter said the Eagles would also go after more experienced players, having lured Richmond premiership pair Liam Baker and Jack Graham to the club this season. 'Potentially, for sure, we're looking at that as well. That's an option. I think we've said it really publicly, where we're open to every avenue,' he said. 'And that will be draft this year that we'll target and we'll also target trade and free agency.' McQualter said 20-year-old Reid had returned home, in a moon boot, to see his family after hurting himself last Saturday but would return to Perth to complete his rehab. 'We do that with all of our players. Harley's not going to play again this season, and this week of rehab is not going to be much,' McQualter said. 'He's in a moon boot still, so when you get an opportunity to send players back to their home states, we always support that. ''Harls' is in that position. Bo Allan went back to his home in Mandurah when he hurt his ankle last week, so that's common practice for us and we support it. 'It won't be for the rest of the season, so he'll come back next week and start his rehab process.'
