There has never been a National AFL Draft when a club’s recruiters have shrugged their shoulders, dropped their bottom lip and said ‘well, that didn’t go according to plan.’

It is always a positive mood in the room and all club officials leave the draft table satisfied.

But the West Coast Eagles staff responsible for the club’s selections in the 2017 ballot at the Sydney Showgrounds on Friday night have every reason to feel like they nailed the latest player lottery.

As the club secured six young men who will be spliced into the senior squad, hopeful of being part of the Eagles campaign for the next decade, list manager Brady Rawlings and national recruiting manager Rohan O’Brien and their team should be chuffed at the broad list coverage they achieved.

The Eagles, for the first time since 1997, brought half a dozen players into the system – with possibly three more to come in the rookie draft on Monday – and they should feel satisfied on a number of fronts.

Firstly, the punt to trade future draft selections to load up on second round selections on Friday night, produced the desired results. And secondly, they have managed to find coverage in areas of perceived weakness on the list.

There are outstanding key position prospects Jarrod Brander and Oscar Allen, electrifying small forward Liam Ryan, tenacious on-ballers Brayden Ainsworth and Hamish Brayshaw, as well as explosive midfielder Jack Petruccelli.

The Eagles recruiting team spent 11 months planning for the national draft and they should be more than content with the young men they have secured for the club – both in the attributes they bring as players and their personal disposition.

Another common catchcry that reverberates around the room post-draft is ‘we didn’t expect XX to be around for that selection.’ But truly, the Eagles’ talent scouts did not expect Brander and Allen to be on the club’s list after the first two choices.

They hoped one would be available, but to have both was a spectacular surprise.

Brander is a key position player who produced his best performance of the national 18s championships when playing centre half-forward for Vic Country against Vic Metro. With his class and versatility it was anticipated another club would pounce before West Coast entered the argument at #13.

Having secured the Bendigo ace, who happened to be a West Coast fan growing up, the expectation was that Allen would be gone before the Eagles next foray at 21.

But with every subsequent selection Allen’s name remained unuttered and the Eagles staff could scarcely believe the Larke medallist was still available. Through the last month, when the dozen or so recruiters planned for different scenarios, they had thrown this situation up, but didn’t really expect it.

So the Eagles bagged two of the best – if not the best two – key position talents in the draft.

It might have been part of the agenda to bolster the club’s midfield stocks going into the ballot, but when talent of this calibre is available it would be an abrogation to bypass it.

Having locked down two exciting key position players – although Allen has also played midfield for West Perth’s colts – the strategy around the next step was being ratified as selection #26 loomed.

Another list deficiency was seen in the absence of a small forward and Liam Ryan, a remarkable young player from Subiaco, was an obvious target. At 21 they label him a mature age recruit. Really?

Regardless, he was not part of the national 18s championships, but he did light up the WAFL, kicking 73 goals to win the coveted Bernie Naylor Medal as the leading goal-kicker in the local league.

As anyone who follows the game could attest, he’s something of a spring-heeled jack, lodging countless nominations for the WAFL mark-of-the-year. Like many aboriginal stars of the past, Ryan is a football extrovert and he expresses himself through the game.

His quiet off-field demeanour probably contributed to him being in the pool in this draft, rather than being snared 12 months ago after a 40-goal debut season with the Lions. Now we’re almost salivating at the thought of him playing alongside dual Coleman medallist Josh Kennedy. Of course, he has much work to do before that happens but it is an exciting vision.

So, with three picks the Eagles had bagged the extraordinary talents of Brander, Allen and Ryan. What next?

Well, at selection 32 it was time to add a midfielder, and the registration code for young Subiaco midfielder Brayden Ainsworth was plugged into the system.

A tough on-baller who grew up in Esperance and played senior football in the country before heading to the city he was another inspired selection. A neat left-footer with a penchant for the contest, he won more clearances in the 18s championships than any other player and was rewarded with all-Australian selection.

The Eagles still had one second round selection remaining and Petruccelli was locked in.

The fastest player available in the draft pool, he clocked the quickest 20m sprint at the draft combine, Petruccelli is a versatile player who could play forward, back or mid. But he does look ideally suited to the wing.

Look up his highlights and you’ll see him dashing out of defence or down the wing taking a few bounces. A genuine line-breaker.

At selection #68, the Eagles netted Hamish Brayshaw, one of the ‘smokies’ in the pool. There was unbridled joy in the room when his name was called. Earlier in the night Fremantle had chosen his younger brother Andrew, with selection two.

Hamish has not had a lot go right for him in the last 12 months, but to coin a saying that in the football vernacular means he’s a good inside midfielder, he’s as hard as a cat’s head. It means his parents, Mark and Debra, will be busy shopping ahead of the 2018 season.

Another son, Angus, has played a couple of seasons at Melbourne, so they now need West Coast and Freo gear to support their other two sons. It was an extraordinary night for one of WA’s great sporting lineages.

Of course, the boys’ father Mark played at Claremont and North Melbourne and their uncle James played Sheffield Shield cricket with both WA and SA. Their grandfather Ian “Sticks” Brayshaw, a legend of WA cricket, took all 10 wickets in a Sheffield Shield game for WA.

As the Eagles embark on a 2018 campaign without great stalwarts Matt Priddis and Sam Butler, the revered Sam Mitchell and Drew Petrie and experienced regulars Josh Hill and Sharrod Wellingham opportunities will be available for those six young hopefuls who became AFL-listed players on Friday night. Their challenge is to now become AFL players. And that is the difficult part.

They have an opportunity, but they also face competition to enter elite ranks.

In 2017, we did not see any of the club’s draftees from 2016. Daniel Venables, Josh Rotham, Willie Rioli, Jake Waterman at AFL level. The match committee was looking closely at them all at some point, but injury ultimately intervened.

In effect, the club has 10 draftees itching to get an opportunity. It is going to be something special to see who emerges first from that exciting pack to command early games.                   

Throw in Brendan Ah Chee, who joined the club through the trade period, and we really are entering an exciting new era.