West Coast needs to 'claw their way back to the top' and not be given any more draft picks, according to Australian Football Hall of Famer Tim Watson.
Yesterday, the Western Australian team received an extra first-round pick and four additional rookie spots for the next three seasons, after asking the AFL for extra assistance.
The Eagles have won only nine games in the past three seasons and finished in the bottom three in the past four seasons, but conversely, it has only been seven years since they won a premiership.
Watson argued that every team struggles enough to bring in talent through the draft, and it is unfair to give the Eagles another first-round pick.
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"I am absolutely against this. It is tough enough to secure a talented player in the draft, let alone be shuffled back one more place because there is a team out there that hasn’t been able to administer themselves," Watson said on SEN Breakfast.
"I don’t think the rest of the competition should pay because they have been inept and haven’t been able to manage their football club with the decisions they have made over time, given they’re one of the most powerful financial clubs in the competition."
Watson suggested the Eagles should have been given more money to go after other players and the ability to bring in another coach outside of the salary cap.
The three-time premiership player explained that the Eagles need to get themselves off the bottom of the ladder, not the AFL.
"We compromise on top of compromise on top of compromise just trying to get some artificial way to level this competition out," Watson said.
"They were once the pin-up club of the competition. They’re still the wealthiest but not the pin-up any more because of where they’re at and the fact they’ve stayed down there so long.
"They, like everyone else, need to claw their way back to the top. Get good people in, make the correct decisions around their players, around their culture; they’re capable of working their back.
"They won't be a barnacle on the comp. They might be an easy-beat next year, but they are so adored they will still get full crowds week in, week out."