The West Coast Eagles are pushing for assistance from the AFL that has "never happened before" as they attempt to climb from the competition's canvas.
The Eagles suffered through a dismal 1-22 season in 2025, leaving the Perth club desperate for whatever help it can get through the AFL's draft and trade periods.
While West Coast did receive an enormous boost after Harley Reid signed on for two more years, captain Oscar Allen and small forward Liam Ryan have both expressed their desire to leave.
The Eagles are understood to be working on as assistance package from the league, which will be assessed during the finals series.
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According to AFL.com.au's Callum Twomey, the Eagles are attempting to snare pick two in the AFL draft in a likely trade with the Lions for Allen, while also managing to land free agent Brandon Starcevich from Brisbane.
Twomey did his best to unravel the complicated situation on Channel 9's Footy Classified.
“There’s two things we can reveal around part of (West Coast's) submission,” Twomey said.
“One of them is extra rookie list spots. They’ve got some opportunities to bring in some NGA (Next Generation Academy) prospects who might fit in as rookie-listed players. So North Melbourne received that as part of their 2023 assistance package.
“The other, more significant, consideration that they’ll discuss with the AFL is the exemption to bring in a free agent without diluting their free agency compensation pick that they’re set to receive for Oscar Allen.
"That is going to, we all think, be pick two in the national draft … uncharted territory, never happened before, never been an exemption that’s allowed this.
“This is what I would call ‘the Brandon Starcevich rule’, because they are in the market for Brandon Starcevich.
"He’s been weighing up Essendon, staying at Brisbane or going to West Coast. I think it’s narrowed now to be out of staying at Brisbane or going to West Coast on a longer-term deal.
“The Eagles are keen on him, but bringing him in as a free agent under normal circumstances would dilute the No.2 pick. They don’t want to do that and they don’t want to trade for him.
“So I think as part of this discussion and submission, they’re likely to throw up the ability to get a free agent, such as Brandon Starcevich, whilst keeping pick two. It would be significant.”