John Worsfold says Essendon will target West Coast pair Eric MacKenzie and Mitch Brown during trade period

ESSENDON coach John Worsfold is planning a raid on West Australian clubs with out-of-favour Eagles Eric Mackenzie and Mitch Brown firmly in his sights.

Eric Mackenzie and Mitch Brown are in the Bombers’ sights.

ESSENDON coach John Worsfold is planning a raid on West Australian clubs with out-of-favour Eagles Eric Mackenzie and Mitch Brown firmly in his sights.

Worsfold also flagged a willingness to pursue “others” at Fremantle including small forward Hayden Ballantyne who has been linked to Geelong in a possible trade for Cat Shane Kersten.

“There’s a couple of key defenders at West Coast that look like they’ve had their positions taken by a young player called (Tom) Barrass,” Worsfold said.

“They’re players that who knows where they sit ... Mackenzie and Brown didn’t play a lot in the second half of the year, or a lot this year.”

Eric Mackenzie was once a fixture in the Eagles backline, before he was cut down by a knee injury.

Mackenzie, 28, has played just 13 games so far this season — none since Round 19 — with swingman Jeremy McGovern holding down the key defensive post alongside Barrass.

Mackenzie was in All Australian calculations two years ago before a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament forced him to miss the entire 2015 season.

Essendon remains “absolutely” interested in Gold Coast Suns star Jaeger O’Meara, but won’t be rushed into making a decisions with the first pick in the national and pre-season drafts already in its possession.

“We’ve got plenty to think about,” Worsfold told SEN.

“Names like O’Meara come up (and) we’re obviously very interested in him, but there’s a lot of stuff that we have to do to work out what’s best for us going forward to add to our list.

“We’re going to make sure that we use this draft and this preseason draft to the best of our ability to improve our squad and get us ready to climb the ladder.”

Worsfold said he will sit down with captain Jobe Watson in the next “couple of weeks”, as soon as he gets back from overseas.

“I really hope he plays on because I know he can play good footy and I’m really confident that if he comes back he’ll enjoy his last couple of years of playing the game.”

Mitch Brown would add depth to the Bombers’ defence. Picture: Mark Evans