AFL Draft Recap: West Coast Eagles land Willem Duursma with No.1 selection, then Cooper Duff-Tytler
West Coast hold the first two draft selections in their hands and have the power to set the tone of their rebuild.
Who will they choose? Follow the draft live!
That’s a wrap
That’s it for day one of the national draft.
We hope you enjoyed the coverage and please join us again tomorrow for round two onwards!
Until then, goodnight.
Glen Quartermain’s draft analysis
A tap dancing inside-outside midfielder and the best young tall in the country.
Matt Clarke
West Coast Eagles list manager Matt Clarke said he was happy with how the first round went and added they didn’t force clubs to use their picks to match bids, just picked the best player at the position.
He also said the Eagles may look at trading up and down tomorrow to secure their own academy players.
“It’s much easier when your picking right at the top,” he told Fox Footy.
“We’re really happy. It was a really even group at the top.
“If we feel they deserve to be picked their we’ll bid on them.”
Picks complete
And that completes a marathon first round of the draft.
There were nine bids made on academy picks with only two not matched.
Fremantle made the most of their late pick while the Eagles did almost exactly as planned, except for the trade up that saw them force the Suns to go all in on their academy players.
How are we feeling WA footy fans?
Pick 25 - Fremantle
Adam Sweid is headed to the harbour!
The midfielder loves to get forward and grab goals.
He stands at 176cm and Essendon decided not to match as they would have had to go into deficit.
He’s a strong tackler and will be handy depth at Fremantle.
Wharfie time
The Dockers are finally on the clock for their first pick!
And they have to wait to see if another club matches their bid.
“Hoping I’d go there”
Willem Duursma has spoken to The West Australian after being drafted to West Coast with the No.1 pick.
Pick 24 - Geelong
Harley Barker is off to Geelong.
The midfielder did an ACL this year after being named an U18 All-Australian.
He is a quick winger but he will miss a chunk of his rookie season as he recovers.
Pick 23 - Hawthorn
Aidan Schubert is the newest Hawthorn forward.
He is a key forward who played very well for South Australia in the U18s championships.
He is a steal at 23 as well.
Pick 22 - Adelaide
The Crows stay local with lead-up forwad Mitch Marsh.
The familiar name was reportedly around the mark for the Eagles but the team he grew up supporting swoop.
He could end up replacing Taylor Walker.
Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.
Sign up for our emails