Eddie McGuire Says AFL Should Give West Coast Priority Pick In Draft
Eddie McGuire Says AFL Should Give West Coast Priority Pick In Draft due to ‘three years absolute pain’
Eddie McGuire is urging the AFL not to give West Coast priority if the club struggles again next year. McGuire predicts “three years of pain for the power team.”
The Eagles are 18th in the ladder following a 122 point loss to Adelaide over the weekend. They have only won three games out of the past 39.
West Coast won only one game in the current season, and lost three times by over 100 points.
McGuire stated that the AFL needs West Coast to be strong for the strength and competition of the league. McGuire suggested a priority selection was needed with the arrival of a Tasmanian team.
Eddie McGuire does not see the Eagles’ future improving any time soon.
You know what? “I’m beginning to lean towards yes,” he said on Nine’s Classified.
“I believe they should get another year.” “I think they get another year.”
“Especially with Tassie arriving, you have to be very careful about kicking people to their death.
“Do we stop paying St Kilda 20 million dollars a year just because they screwed it up in 2000s?”
“The best thing to do to keep clubs alive is to give them some hope. They’re taking their punishment, but you don’t need to create a whole generation of fans who aren’t hopeful about their team.
It doesn’t matter if they have a lot of picks at the moment, because it’s going to be three years of pain.
McGuire said the AFL could have helped Carlton the same way it did when the Blues struggled in the years before the Gold Coast Suns or GWS Giants arrived.
McGuire, speaking of the Eagles, said: “They are an important team. We don’t want to see them in the slumps forever.”
Adam Simpson, the Eagles’ former champion coach, has failed to stop their slide this year.
“I’ve always believed that one of the greatest mistakes was… “I always thought that one of the biggest mistakes…
It was costing us a lot of money. They’re losing $1 million per year.
Jimmy Bartel, a former Geelong player who is now a director with the Giants disagreed McGuire’s view.
He told Classified, “I don’t believe you should be rewarded for your own list choices.”
“They won the flag five years back and gave away three draft choices to get Tim Kelly.
They’re going to try again with the older players. Last year, they split their pick to bring in two more youngsters.
