Freshly minted No.1 Pick Willem Duursma was forced to wait until hours before the draft to find out where he was heading.
Duursma was heavily linked to West Coast and the opening selection of the 2025 National Draft for the majority of the season, but with the volatility surrounding live trading of picks, nothing was a guarantee.
However, the Gippsland Power product revealed that he was told on Wednesday, making for a "relaxing" draft day.
"Yeah, they (West Coast) had a meeting with me today, so that was really good," Duursma said shortly after he was selected with Pick 1.
"A lot more relaxed. I'd say I think that the beauty of knowing that it takes a little bit of the stress away."
Duursma is the second top selection the Eagles have taken in three seasons, with Harley Reid meeting his newest teammate on stage as the jumper presenter.
And the new Eagle can't wait to link up with Reid at Optus Stadium.
"Yeah, it'd be really good," Duursma said.
"We complement each other, really well. He gets his hands dirty over there. I'll help from the outside a fair bit."
Duursma understands the gravity of being taken at the top selection, as well as the prospects at West Coast, which won a solitary match in 2025.
The 18-year-old is the fourth-ever Pick 1 at the Eagles, but says he's ready to take on the title.
"Yeah, certainly," Duursma said.
"I think I'm ready for that. I've seen, seen Harley, don't go through it. I know it's not easy, but you've just got to look at the bright side and think positively.
"They're only going to get better."
Duursma was drafted alongside Cooper Duff-Tytler, who joined the Eagles with Pick 4 after the club bid on Gold Coast's Zeke Uwland and Carlton's Harry Dean.
"Duff's a real player, really excited to play with him," Duursma said.
"You know, he's heaps of potential. He's a really good player. Yeah, he's a really good guy as well. So I'm stoked to play with him. Actually, very good for the HL Academy camp. So we had a lot of bonding there. So it was really good."
Duursma also claimed "bragging rights" among his siblings as the highest-picked player across the AFL and AFLW.
Xavier, the oldest in the clan, was drafted to Port Adelaide with Pick 18 in 2018. Zane was scooped up by North Melbourne with Pick 4.
Sister Yasmin was taken with Pick 45 in the 2022 AFLW Draft by the Power.
