The West Coast Eagles have tonight added more elite talent – headlined by No.1 pick Willem Duursma – in one of the most significant draft nights in the Club’s history.
Duursma was long touted as the dux of 2025 and became just the fourth Eagle to be selected top of their class, joining dual premiership player Drew Banfield (1992), Michael Gardiner (1996) and Harley Reid (2023).
In an iconic moment, Duursma was presented with his guernsey on stage by new teammate and emerging superstar Reid at Marvel Stadium on Wednesday night.
The Eagles scooped the 2025 draft pool with the two best prospects not tied to rival clubs, selecting 201cm young gun Cooper Duff-Tytler with the fourth overall selection.
The Calder Cannons ruck-forward’s aerial prowess, athleticism, skills by hand or foot and ground-level ability was a rare and alluring combination for recruiters.
West Coast’s National Recruiting Manager, Duane Massey, was thrilled to add the pair of top-end talents to the Eagles’ developing list.
“Willem has had an outstanding few years and has dominated the Coates League and at Nationals levels this year as well as playing a few quality games with Casey in the VFL,” Massey said.
“Willem’s positional flexibility will allow our coach Andrew McQualter to play him a across a few lines, but we project him being a long-term player with high-end ability through the midfield in time.
“Cooper comes from a strong basketball background and spent most of his time playing basketball before this year, so we feel he has enormous upside in a full time AFL system.
“Cooper’s elite athletic profile, character and work ethic gives him every chance to be a high-end talent for years to come.”
The Eagles capped an outstanding first round of the draft by selecting elite ball user Josh Lindsay from the Geelong Falcons with pick No.19, after executing a trade to move up a spot on the draft board to secure Hawthorn’s selection which sent a 2026 second-round pick – tied to St Kilda.
“Overall, it was an outstanding result for the Club tonight,” Massey said.
“To have access to some high talent at the sharp end of the draft really sets the Club up to launch into 2026 and beyond.
“Josh is an outstanding left-foot kick who we rated highly and when he was still on the board we were keen to move up and secure him.
“Securing Willem, Cooper and Josh adds to the young talent we’ve selected in the past few years and we believe they can really add value to our list for years to come.”
The Eagles hold selections 29 and 34 heading into the second round of the draft on Thursday evening.
