It’s fair to say that a move to Western Australia was not on the cards when Brisbane defender Alex Witherden began exploring his options ahead of this year’s AFL Trade Period.

But that quickly changed following a Zoom conference call with West Coast senior coach Adam Simpson, list manager Darren Glass and general manager of football Craig Vozzo.

Having no expectations leading into the virtual meeting, Witherden was set on becoming an Eagle at the end of the conversation and quickly gave his manager a call imploring him to secure a move west.

“Having met with Simmo, Glassy and Craig Vozzo it just felt like a really good fit,” Witherden told 6PR’s Sportsday WA program.

“I got off the Zoom call and gave Nick Gieschan my manager a buzz straight away and said, “I think I might want to go to Perth”.

“Obviously I’ve got all my family back in Melbourne and I’ve lived in Brisbane, so I have no roots in Western Australia but it just seemed like a really good fit for my footy. One thing led to another and before I knew it I’m a West Coast Eagle and that’s really exciting.”

The astute 22-year-old revealed that he made another important call before signalling his intentions to fly with the Eagles.

Witherden picked up the phone and reached out to West Coast midfielder Jack Redden, a former Lion who decided to join the Eagles during the 2015 Trade Period despite not knowing anyone in WA.

“He was one of the first blokes I spoke to when I was in the decision making process,” Witherden said.

“I gave him a buzz and chatted through a few different things. He loves it over there and he said it’s a really good bunch of lads that are at the footy club.

“I’m pretty excited to get over there and get stuck into it. Hopefully we can have some success over the next couple of years and hopefully I’m a big part of it.”

Witherden said he was intent on adding to his 59 AFL games next year by securing a spot in West Coast’s backline.

However, the Geelong Falcons product knows he won't be a walk-up start in a defensive group boasting the likes of Shannon Hurn, Jeremy McGovern, Brad Sheppard, Tom Barrass and a host of emerging talents.

“They’ve got a really good back six or seven that played a lot of this year and they’ve got some younger guys there in Tommy Cole, Liam Duggan and Jackson Nelson with some more experienced guys around them,” Witherden acknowledged.

“But I think from speaking to Simmo there’s probably a role there at half-back as a bit of a distributor by foot; I could help get the ball moving from the back half.

“But there’s never any guarantees in football. I just want to come to the footy club, be head down, bum up, get to work and the rest will take care of itself.

“If I can perform at a good enough level there’s an opportunity for me and if I don’t you’re not deserving of it. But I’m pretty confident that I can get there and make every post a winner at West Coast.”