AFL Draft 2024: West Coast recruiting boss Duane Massey flags Jobe Shanahan as future defensive option

West Coast national recruiting manager Duane Massey says exciting draftee Jobe Shanahan has the potential to play at either end of the ground. The Eagles couldn’t believe their luck when Shanahan slipped to their second pick – No.30 – on Thursday night after being rated as a first-round prospect, with Massey describing it as a “bonus” Shanahan kicked 42 goals across 20 games in his draft year including 11 goals in three VFL games for Essendon and was named at centre-half-forward of the Under-18 All-Australian team. Massey said the 195cm teenager from Moama had the potential to become a key defender as they look to cover the loss of premiership defender Tom Barrass in a trade to Hawthorn. “We caught up with Jobe at home and we think he’s got the skillset to play back as well as forward,” Massey said. “He’s played most of his footy forward but he’s another one that we think can flick back. “I think Mini (coach Andrew McQualter) is keen to have some players with some flexibility in where they play so I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s other boys that have played forward for us that may end up back at some point.” West Coast landed the top WA prospect in Bo Allan with their first pick after the Peel Thunder utility was still on the board at pick No.16. The recruitment of the 191cm big-bodied midfielder appeased Eagles fans who were angered after they traded out pick No.3 last month and then slid back another selection when they made a live trade with Port Adelaide on the night. “We had him ranked in our order and we had him reasonably high, but we were probably hoping he was going to get through. We weren’t guaranteed of that,” Massey said. “We were very confident that if he didn’t get through, we were still going to get a very nice player. “To do a trade with Port, slip back a spot and still pick the same player – we’d done our intel on what Port were chasing and we’re pretty confident it wasn’t our player. We were happy to make the move and it worked out beautifully for us.” The Eagles rounded out the draft by recruiting next generation academy product Malakai Champion as a Category-B rookie after he didn’t receive a bid from a rival club during the national draft. “We were hoping he was going to get through to that point,” Massey said. “It gives Malakai a great opportunity now to get to work on our list. He’s a great young fella, he played some good league footy at Subiaco this year so we’re excited about what he can bring to the footy club. “He’s got something a little bit different. He’s not overly tall, but he’s super quick. He applies really good pressure forward so we’re happy to have him on our list.” West Coast do have one spot left on their list after they passed on taking a player in the rookie draft. Former-listed defender Coby Burgiel is already training with the club hoping to earn a lifeline thought the pre-season supplemental selection period after being delisted at the end of the season. They have also been linked to former St Kilda midfielder Olli Hotton and James Van Es, while Peel premiership defender Michael Sellwood is another player on interest. “We haven’t had a chance to catch up as yet, we certainly planned to pass today,” Massey said. “We’ll catch up over the next day or so to talk about what that position looks like. (List boss) Matt Clarke has done a great job over the past few weeks to get us in the position we’re in so he’s working through some scenarios about how we use that list spot at the minute. “There are a number of boys that have come off lists that we’ve got some interest in but we’ll look at that over the next few days and decide which way we want to head.”