AFL Commission to consider Eagles’ plea for help seven years after flag

The AFL Commission will next week consider West Coast’s appeal for special draft help just seven years after winning the premiership.

The Eagles have officially applied for draft concessions after winning 11 games in four years, including just one this season.

The AFL executive is unlikely to recommend significant assistance for the Eagles, whose problems are considered to be largely a product of their own list mismanagement after winning the flag.

One change for all clubs that new AFL football head Greg Swann has already expressed interest in, and might be considered for immediate introduction by the commission, would be to permit low clubs to bring in free agents without those players damaging the compensation the club might otherwise get for losing a player.

In the Eagles’ case, the club is likely to lose Oscar Allen as a free agent to the Brisbane Lions and would be liable for an early draft pick as compensation. The Eagles, however, are also interested in securing Lions free agent Brandon Starcevich, but are worried that to do so they would lose the quality of compensation they would get for Allen.

A senior industry source who could not comment publicly said were the AFL to introduce a change of this nature across the competition this year, the Eagles could potentially get Starcevich and keep the Allen compensation.

The AFL would have to decide what the threshold was for bringing in a free agent and not having it affect compensation, and whether that related to the bottom four or six clubs or clubs that had only won fewer than a specified number of games.

Were the commission of a mind to offer some help to the Eagles, another option could be guaranteeing the Eagles’ second round pick is at pick 19. The Eagles would currently have picks one and 19 in this year’s draft but, with father-son and academy selections, that second-round pick is likely to push back to 30. The AFL could mandate that the Eagles’ pick stays at 19 and all others are pushed back.

West Coast chief executive Don Pyke has argued the AFL’s platforms of equalisation, competitive balance, and the concept of “any given Sunday, any team can win”, demands that a team that has won one game for the season after three previous years of poor performance demands extra help.

Pyke will meet with Swann this week when the Eagles fly to Melbourne to play the Demons. A submission will be made to the commission for next week’s meeting.

Other options for assistance could include an extra draft pick early in the draft; draft picks the club had to trade; more places on the list; extra rookie list places; extra category B list places and the ability to retain players on the category B list for longer.

The category B list places might not significantly move the dial in performance on the field in the short term but would be attractive to the AFL, which is dealing with an alarming drop-off in Indigenous participation. Being able to keep potential AFL players from Indigenous backgrounds for longer, instead of deciding on them after two years, could help foster talent.

League chief Andrew Dillon last week all but ruled out the push for significant draft help.

“We understand the view [about the Eagles winning the premiership in 2018], but the metrics are the metrics,” Pyke said.

Pyke said just as the draft was part of equalisation, so too was offering special assistance to poor-performing teams.

“If there is no wish to provide assistance, I think in the future we are removing this as a mechanism for teams in this situation and a departure from equalisation,” Pyke said.

He said the Eagles’ plight was similar to what North Melbourne and Gold Coast endured before they were gifted added selections by the AFL Commission.

However, Dillon last week cast doubt on the Eagles receiving assistance, pointing to the rebuilds of Adelaide – set to play finals for the first time since 2017 – and the Brisbane Lions.

“The blueprint is there in the work Swanny [Swann] and the work he did in Brisbane … and if you look at Adelaide at the weekend, they haven’t been in the finals since 2017, but through a lot of hard work, some really good decisions, [and] great trading, great drafting, they are poised now for a top-four pick,” Dillon said.

“They have got where they have got without a priority pick, and I think you can do it.”

The Kangaroos were given a two-year assistance package in 2023. They were handed three end-of-first-round selections in the ’23 and ’24 drafts, and two extra rookie list spots in ’24.

At that point, they had endured four straight seasons in the bottom two, having won a combined 12 games. They are likely to still finish in the bottom three this year.

In 2022, they were also given a second-round pick and third-round pick for 2023, but those had to be traded for at least one player. The AFL also gave North the right to an additional two rookies on the list.

Pyke said he had yet to formally make the request for this year.

“I’m mindful of people saying: ‘Well, West Coast got into this problem, so they should just work their way out of it’,” he said.

“But this is the essence of equalisation. The equalisation across the comp is designed to allow clubs to not spend a long period of time either at the top or at the bottom.

“I think we’d not be doing our duty if we didn’t ask the question about, ‘How do we get any assistance we can?’ if it’s available to help us get out of this and get back to playing competitive, strong footy week-on-week.”

Newcombe signs a bumper extension with Hawthorn

Roy Ward

Hawthorn midfielder Jai Newcombe will be a Hawk until at least the end of 2032 after signing a six-year contract extension.

The reigning Peter Crimmins medallist was already contracted until the end of next season, and now he is committed to the club until he is 31.

The 23-year-old was selected in the 2021 mid-season draft, threw aside his carpenter’s tools and took to full-time football, where this season he is averaging 22.3 disposals per game, including 5.9 clearances as the Hawks chase a top-four finish and the chance to push for the premiership.

Hawthorn’s national list manager Mark McKenzie said the club saw more improvement to come for Newcombe.

“Jai’s rise from a mid-season draftee to one of the premier midfielders in the league has been a credit to his persistence, leadership and poise at the elite level, and it is fantastic to see him rewarded with this contract extension,” McKenzie said.

“We know that Jai will turn 31 in the final year of this contract, meaning he will still be at the peak of his powers, which is an exciting prospect.

“Having already signed with the club until 2026, this contract extension will allow Jai to continue his rapid rise for many years to come.”

The Hawks face fellow finals contenders Adelaide at Adelaide Oval on Friday at 7.40pm (AEST).

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