Despite perennially being linked with their geographic rivals, West Coast's list manager Rohan O'Brien has claimed the Eagles won't let Luke Jackson walk to Fremantle without a fight.
Less than 12 months after obtaining premiership glory as a Demon, the Melbourne Football Club announced on Tuesday that their prized ruckman would be seeking a trade home during the upcoming exchange period.
Yet, while Jackson had been tied in most minds to a future in purple and white, the Demons expressed that they remained open to dealing with both Western Australian outfits in an effort to garner the strongest possible return.
Speaking in the wake of the Redlegs' revelations, O'Brien claimed that the Eagles would be engaging in conversations regarding the Rising Star.
“There’s an air of confidence that we think we can convince him and hopefully get the deal done," O'Brien told SEN WA Breakfast on Wednesday.
“But as I’ve said, opportunities like Luke don’t come around very often so when they do come along you’d be remiss not to explore them and put your best foot forward.”
However, O'Brien announced to co-host Tim Gossage that irrespective of Jackson's allure, West Coast's opening selection - pick 2 - would not be on the table.
“At this stage Tim, no it’s not,” O’Brien offered.
“We think we’re well-placed with a range of opportunities.
“If we get the opportunity to trade for Luke, we can split selections to generate more, we’ve got future selections and there’s player trades.”
O'Brien revealed that while he is yet to commence conversations with his counterpart at the Demons, Tim Lamb, dialogue would be opened at the first possible convenience.
“We haven’t spoken to Melbourne yet at all, I’ll contact Tim Lamb in the coming days and start working through that,” he said.
“But we also need to get in front of Luke and his management to find out their position as well and put our case forward to hopefully convince him that we’re the right club to come to.
“In terms of a trade, we’re not gun shy at all.”
At present, West Coast is armed with picks 2, 20, 26, 38 and 74 ahead of this year's National Draft.