AFL trade: West Coast list boss Matt Clarke says first-round pick not on the table for Brandon Starcevich

West Coast list boss Matt Clarke has shut down the prospect of the Eagles giving up pick No.16 in a trade for dual Brisbane premiership defender Brandon Starcevich.

Reports emerged over the weekend that the Lions wanted the Eagles’ late first-round pick in exchange for the East Perth product.

West Coast are understood to be prepared to part ways with their second-round pick —which currently sits at pick No.23 — but the Lions are seeking more for the out-of-contract 26-year-old.

Speaking on Monday at Marvel Stadium, Clarke said the Eagles wanted to keep pick No.16, which they got in exchange for losing premiership defender Tom Barrass to Hawthorn last season.

“We think it’s a valuable pick. We’ve put a lot of work into that last year in getting that in, so at this stage it’s going to stay with us,” Clarke said.

Brisbane list manager Dom Ambrogio said they were yet to firm up a price for Starcevich but said they were “looking for the best deal we can get” and he was worth “a lot”.

“He said he was always going to take his time to work through the free agency process and get an understanding of where he sat and where his values sat,” Ambrogio said.

“We’ve had strong offers, a multitude of different offers in front of Brandon for a long time. I think it was probably this time last year when we opened negotiations with him.

“He’s taken his time and at the end of the day I think he’s decided geography for him was king, he wanted to be back in Western Australia.”

Clarke said Starcevich would add plenty to their young list as they look to rebound from a one-win season.

“He plays with an unbelievable hardness. He’s got great experience, he’s a really good culture guy, he’s going to fit our lockeroom really well,” he said.

“He’s got some guys around he can really help in our back half.”

The Eagles are set to boost their defensive stocks even further after Richmond key defender Tylar Young requested a trade to the Eagles.

“We look at our depth of position, losing Jeremy McGovern this year unfortunately and Tom Barrass traded out last year so we know we need some key position depth but also a starting 23 player and we see that in Tylar,” Clarke said.

“We’re really excited to have a guy of his size and stature to play those roles, to help our guys down back.

“The Tigers and I’ve had a bit of a discussion last week, I don’t think we’re going to be that far apart on what that looks like so we’ll have some more chats this week.”

Meanwhile, Clarke said there was still plenty of work to get done in a deal that would see first-round draftee Campbell Chesser return home to Victoria and play for Carlton after four seasons.

“We’re a little bit apart on that but I think we can come to an agreement with what that looks like,” he said.

“We obviously wanted to retain Campbell, he’s a first-round pick four years in and we’ve done a lot of work with him to actually get him up and going.

“We’re disappointed, we understand it but at this stage we’re a bit apart from where we sit.”

The list decisions surrounding West Coast have kept rookie ruckman Coen Livingstone in limbo with the Next Generation Academy product still awaiting to hear if he will get a contract for next season.