AFL 2025: West Coast CEO confirms interest in priority pick, confident on Harley Reid future
West Coast is asking the AFL for assistance to propel out of its “unfortunate situation” while tabling one of the game’s most lucrative deals.
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West Coast has begun discussions with the AFL about receiving a priority draft pick at season’s end while confident it will keep wunderkind Harley Reid.
The Eagles are starring down a fourth season in the bottom two and successive wooden spoon with just one win.
West Coast CEO Don Pyke revealed he had reached out after being forced into an “unfortunate situation”.
“Look, we’ve had some initial discussions with the AFL around that,” Pyke told SEN.
“Looking at the unfortunate situation we find ourselves and looking at our numbers, whether it be games won, quarters won and percentage over the last five years, we find ourselves right in the position where other clubs who’ve recently received assistance.
“Looking at them, we’re well and truly in the window for that. So, we’ll have those discussions and we’ll look to proceed with some sort of request.
“As disappointing as it is, we are where we are. With the draft is as compromised as it’s been, we feel like we can benefit from some assistance to get ourselves out of where we’ve been over the last four years.”
In positive news for the Eagles, they appear set to sign Reid on a monster extension.
The 20-year-old has reportedly been tabled a two-year extension at West Coast with a trigger that could net him upwards of $24 million over 11 seasons.
He suffered a syndesmosis injury during last weekend’s loss to Fremantle and will not pull on the West Coast jumper again in 2025.
Reid remains on his draftee contract through to 2026 but has been in ramped up extension talks in recent weeks.
Pyke understood the hysteria around Reid’s future but was confident the polarising young star would re-sign.
“Yeah, we are (confident he’ll be here in 2026),” Pyke said.
“He’s contracted here until next year, and we’d love to be able to get something done, and if we can’t, we’ll have to maybe park it and pick it up later on.
“Obviously, it’s going to continue to be a talking point until the decision is made one way or another.
“But he’s enjoying his time here, he’s really engaged with the group, I think Andrew (McQualter) has said that a few times.
“He’s very much now part of the group and wants to see us get back to where we want to be, which is not where we are at the moment.”
Originally published as AFL 2025: West Coast CEO confirms interest in priority pick, confident on Harley Reid future
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