West Coast could start trading frenzy
Trade week could become a tad more interesting this year after West Coast coach John Worsfold declared the Eagles are willing to put their prized first-round AFL draft pick on the market.
Worsfold, eager to bolster his fledgling outfit, is desperate to secure a classy forward in the mould of Collingwood great Peter Daicos and said the club would adopt an aggressive trade strategy if there were no such players available in November's national draft.
West Coast could finish anywhere from ninth to 15th on the ladder but are more likely to end up in their current position of 12th, meaning they will receive pick No.6 in November's draft or pick No.5 if Melbourne (16th) fail to qualify for a priority selection.
Worsfold was hopeful rival clubs would be more willing to trade out a star player for a first-round pick this year before the new Gold Coast franchise plunders the 2010 national draft.
Gold Coast will be given unprecedented access to the best youngsters in the country in next year's draft before they enter the league in 2011.
"There's no doubt the lay of the land is going to be different (with this year being the last uncompromised draft) and it's a bit of an unknown how different clubs are going to want to use that," Worsfold said on Tuesday.
"(A crumbing forward) is probably one area we think we can add something different that we don't have on our list.
"The other areas we're very confident the players we've got can fill all positions, they are going to be very good players in their roles."
Mark LeCras has been a stand-out for the Eagles this season in his role as a small forward.
The 182cm goalsneak has bagged 51 majors but Worsfold has plans to transform the 22-year-old into one of the competition's elite midfielders.
Worsfold refused to name any player on his wish-list but hinted club officials had already started sounding out potential candidates.
Just six players changed clubs during last year's trade period despite many more, including Sydney's All-Australian forward Ryan O'Keefe, requesting transfers.
But the Eagles' willingness to trade away their first pick this year could spark a series of swaps involving a number of clubs.
West Coast have reaped the rewards of high draft picks in recent years, as Chris Masten, Brad Ebert, Nic Naitanui, Mitch Brown, Tom Swift and Scott Selwood have quickly established themselves as first-choice players.
Masten was secured in 2007 when the Eagles secured draft picks and forward Josh Kennedy from Carlton, in exchange for Chris Judd.
Worsfold said it might be time to start trading again as he attempts to guide his side back into finals action.
"Every year and every draft you assess where your club's at," he said.
"We've traded our first pick in the past.
"We traded it out for (Tyson) Stenglein, we've traded one out for (Daniel) Chick.
"In the last few years we've used them to pick players.
"If the best possible player was available to us and it took the first pick to get him and that was going to be a better option than drafting another young player, then we would go that way." Meanwhile, it appears increasingly unlikely premiership midfielder Chad Fletcher will receive a farewell game before he retires at the end of the season.
The Eagles will make at least two changes to their side for Saturday's clash with Adelaide at AAMI Stadium after Brown (foot) and Masten (knee) were injured last week.
But Worsfold said he would rather give young players such as Ryan Davis and Jamie McNamara another chance to prove their worth at AFL level before their contracts expired rather than hand a ceremonial game to Fletcher.
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