West Coast CEO Don Pyke has conceded that the club will ask the AFL for assistance after holding talks with the league following another wretched season.
The Eagles could realistically record one victory in 2025 (St Kilda in Round 10), eclipsing their poor previous years of five, three and two wins.
A second wooden spoon in three campaigns appears the likeliest scenario for the WA club, which has won just 11 matches out of its past 87 games, dating back to the beginning of 2022.
Pyke reasoned that the Eagles' stance with rivals also receiving care packages from the league in a moment of need, while the compromised nature of the more recent drafts has hindered the club's ability to successfully rebuild.
North Melbourne was the most recent club to accept help from the AFL after consecutive wooden spoons that were sandwiched between 17th-placed finishes in 2020 and 2023.
The Kangaroos received three extra first-round draft selections spread over two years across the 2023 and 2024 intakes, as well as the continuation of the club's ability to have two additional rookie spots.
At the time of the assistance from the league, the Arden Street club had won 12 games out of the past 84 matches.
Gold Coast were also subject to help from the AFL at the end of 2019, which helped them land Matt Rowell, the ability to pre-sign Academy players and claim the Darwin region as a part of their academy zone.
"We'll have those discussions and look to proceed with some sort of request," Pyke told SEN on Wednesday.
"As disappointing as it is, we are where we are, and with the draft as compromised as it's been, we feel like we can benefit from some assistance to get ourselves out of where we've been.
"We find ourselves right in the position where, if you apply it across clubs who have recently received assistance, we're well and truly in the window for that."
What the Eagles will ask for from the AFL is still being negotiated, but could revolve around extra draft picks, access to certain players or a larger list size.
"We'll take that all to the conversations with the AFL," Pyke continued.
"I think the challenges over the last two years, and I know it'll be the same this year's draft, is the introduction of the NGA, the northern Academies and father-son compensation picks.
"Unfortunately, in the last two years, when we've finished bottom two or three, our second round (picks) slid out to the 30s.
"It just means access to talent to teams, like ourselves, who are trying to rebuild gets more challenging."
Eagles coach Andrew McQualter supported the club's position on asking the league for assistance.
"It's really clear that there's a soft cap, salary cap, TPP (total player payments) … it's irrelevant, the position of the club," McQualter said on Thursday.
"We're just looking at it from the performances of the last four years and the history of what priority picks are given for. We think we qualify.
"We're aligned that we're in a position where we think we can apply for it, and then the AFL will look at it and they decide.
"We're in a rush to get better, and if that's a way that we can get better, we're willing to look and apply for it."
