West Coast Eagles General Manager of Football Craig Vozzo says the Eagles are very happy with the list changes they’ve been able to make during the 2016 trade period.
The Eagles added Hawks gun Sam Mitchell and Geelong ruckman Nathan Vardy to their list, both for late draft picks, and have maintained their presence in the first two rounds of the draft.
Vozzo says it is a key part o the Eagles' list strategy to improve the list without losing focus on the future.
“We are happy, we set out with a few goals in mind and I think, pretty much, we’ve achieved most of those,” Vozzo told Eagle Eye TV.
“It’s never perfect, but certainly bringing Sam in, with the midfield talent there, that’s fantastic.
“Nathan has that ability to play forward (and) ruck, which we’ve talked about for a while.
“Also preserving draft position as well, that was really important.
“One of our pillars is bringing in the best young talent we can, so preserving our draft position in the first few rounds was critical.”
With only a few weeks until the national draft in November, Vozzo said he was very comfortable with where the list was at moving into 2017.
“We’d love to have Nic available from round one obviously, one of our most influential players, but we’re very happy with what we’ve added,” Vozzo said.
“We’re looking forward to getting some exciting young talent onto the list through the draft process and we move forward.”
Vozzo also said:
- He looked forward to Sam Mitchell leading the midfield along with Matt Priddis and Luke Shuey
- He sees plenty of growth in Nathan Vardy and is looks forward to him developing at West Coast
- Player retention was always a high priority and he’s pleased to be able to retain all players
- Brady Rawlings has made a fantastic start to his new role of List Manager
- The recruiting staff will meet in the coming weeks to refine their draft order
Watch the full interview with Eagle Eye TV above.
