Greater Western Sydney will consider again trading up to the top of the AFL draft, a year on from landing key forward prospect Aaron Cadman with the No.1 pick.
Giants coach Adam Kingsley said the club would be “foolish” to not investigate packaging their two first-round picks in a bid to take highly touted youngster Harley Reid, who appears a lock to go at No.1.
GWS's two early picks - currently slated at No.9 and No.12 - would probably need to be packaged with additional capital to pry the top selection from a club looking for multiple high-end talents rather than one gun, potentially an option for a rebuliding outfit such as West Coast.
The Giants gave up No.3, No.12 and a future second-round pick to add Cadman last off-season, and Kingsley said the club would explore doing something similar this year.
“We'll consider all options,” he said.
“We'd be foolish not to. But in terms of decision making, we're far away from doing that.”
Kingsley said he had no regrets about the outlay to get Cadman, with the 19-year-old having played 11 games for six goals in his maiden campaign.
“I've been rapt with Aaron," he said.
"When you look at Cadman in his first year, if you're looking purely at disposals and goals, maybe you're a little bit short.
“But if you're looking at competing, follow-up tackles from a key forward in his first year, he's been outstanding.
“In years to come, we'll look back and go 'We saw glimpses of the player that he was becoming and we didn't necessarily recognise it at the time'.”
The Giants look like a team on the up, even without another prodigious talent, having reeled off six-straight wins to shoot into the AFL's top eight ahead of the biggest period of their first campaign under Kingsley.
They head to Ballarat on Saturday to face the Western Bulldogs (fifth), before a derby against Sydney (12th) and a trip to Port Adelaide (second) in what Kingsley admitted looked an early transition to ‘finals mode’.
“Playing teams around us all fighting for the same positions, the final positions in that top eight, and everything's possible still,” he said.
“Aside from Port Adelaide, who are well above us, we play teams all around us, so every game is really important.
“It is like a finals game this week particularly, against the Bulldogs. Not that we build it up any more than anything else.
“We prepare the same way, but you understand the importance of each game no doubt.”
