What do you feel gets this done mate? I have been pretty vocal in my group chats about "throwing the eagles a bone" rather than standing our ground in hope you take Curtain at 1.
Pick 2 and our future compo 1st get it? Could also get 14 or 19 in the mix this season
I personally think the Eagles will just hold and draft Reid. He is the exact type of player we need and the exact type you draft to build you team around, we have also just lost our most marketable player in Nic Nat who generated huge money for the club... Reid will be a huge drawcard for years to come and is highly marketable. That fixes that problem right there.
Traditionally pick 1 very rarely changes hands, and West Coast is also very much in the position of power here... Either an unbelievable offer is put to us that we just can't refuse, or we just draft the best prospect in the country. There is nothing forcing us to trade the pick despite what the victorian media would have everyone believe.
When you look at our team, the glaring need for us is in the midfield... not a CHB like Curtin. If Curtin wasn't from WA I doubt he would even be talked about for us. We have a long history of being able to identify, draft & develop young talls with lower picks like MacKenzie, Barrass, McGovern, Allen and Darling... all taken outside the first round. There are several prospects like this in the later rounds this year.
We also have an unbelievable retention rate when it comes to interstate draftee's with no fear of drafting Victorian kids in the first round ahead of WA prospects.
If a deal with North was to done I think it would take pick 2 & 3 to get it done. North fans aren't going to like it but if you want to jump up and grab one of the best prospects in many years... then you have to pay a premium for it... West Coast are not here to just do a "fair" deal and help opposition clubs.
Last year it made sense to split pick 2 as Hewett was really our main target, and Ginbey was just the bonus (despite them being drafted the other way around). This year is does not unless you can secure two genuine top 10 picks after Academy, Father/Son and Compensation picks are factored in. They are going to push all draft picks way down the order as this draft is heavily compromised.
If we weren't to draft Reid, most WCE supporters who closely follow the draft would prefer to walk away with McKercher over Curtin, and then maybe another player like Connor O'Sullivan or Ollie Murphy.