The future is now. It was magnified during the week when Campbell Chesser signed a contract extension to the end of the 2025 season.

The club’s first selection in the 2021 draft hasn’t played a game. He didn’t need to as he had already convinced the club’s coaching staff and teammates of his AFL bonafides.

He had credits in the bank well before a severe ankle injury in the opening minutes of the first practice game of pre-season against Fremantle.

He had actually shown before setting foot on the training track that he had elite credentials.

Taken with pick 14 in last year’s ballot, Chesser drove across the country at a time when COVID lock-downs were in place.

In early December he left the family home in rural Victoria, travelled to Adelaide via Mildura and trained with SANFL club Glenelg.

After securing a G2G pass while in South Australia, Chesser then completed the second stage of his journey and flew to Perth.

He was in quarantine over Christmas and New Year so that he would be clear to start training with his new teammates in the first week of January. Commitment and drive are perquisites to succeed at the elite level. He emphatically demonstrated both.

When he hit the track it became obvious why the Eagles recruiting staff rated him so highly. Speed, endurance and skill make him an exciting prospect.

Unfortunately the ankle injury – and subsequent surgery – resulting from that apparently innocuous incident against the Dockers saw Chesser placed on the inactive list and he is unlikely to play this season.

Sidelined for the short term, but integral to the club’s rebuild.

He was West Coast’s earliest selection in the draft since Jarrod Brander in 2017 (#13) and looms as a centre piece of a list transition. And so do others who were part of that 2021 draft, all of whom look to have strong credentials.

On the night of the draft, former Eagles wingman Matt Rosa was quick to pump out a text to recruiters when Brady Hough’s name was called at selection #31. Rosa is General Manager Football at WAFL club Peel and watched Hough’s development at close quarters.

From country footy, to Peel colts and then to a senior debut in the final round of the season. He made each progression seamlessly.

And so, too, did he slot straight into the AFL environment. He played three of the first four games, missing one through Health and Safety Protocols, and has played another couple with the WAFL Eagles.

Young players need to be managed through the embryonic stages of their careers, but he is ready for another taste.

Jack Williams was promoted to senior football before he was ready, but necessity commanded it when availability was at its lowest for the round two clash with North Melbourne. The youngest player on the club’s list he will play more senior football this year, but his pathway will be plotted carefully.

Bazzo, selection #37 last October, had an interrupted run in his first senior pre-season, and looks to have a bright future as a key defender. He is lean and raw, but Eagles fans will likely see him this year.

Throw in Greg Clark, a matured aged draftee from Subiaco, and the class of 2021 appears capable of being central to the club’s resurgence.

And you can add the likes of Callum Jamieson, Bailey Williams, Connor West, Luke Foley, Zane Tew, Isiah Winder and Xavier O’Neill to that list of youngsters who have the capacity to right the listing ship.

Almost certain to get early access to the 2022 talent pool, our Eagles will bounce with Chesser and co. driving the regeneration.

In the midst of an injury crisis it is sometimes difficult to lift your vision above the pall of gloom. But, in the words of Adam Simpson, it is never as good nor as bad as it seems.