Waalitj Marawar (West Coast) football boss Gavin Bell has warned the upcoming mid-season draft will not be used to bring new players into the club “for the sake of it.”

The Eagles will be able to make at least two additions on May 26 due to season-ending injuries suffered by midfielder Deven Robertson (knee) and small forward Jacob Newton (foot) earlier in the year.

But they are already the owners of the competition’s largest list, having been given four extra rookie spots as part of a concession package granted by the AFL last year.

Their playing ranks swelled further ahead of the start of the season with the additions of breakout star Milan Murdock through the supplemental selection period and former basketballer Jake Miles-Wrency as a Category B rookie.

Bell stopped short of guaranteeing the Eagles would use both of their mid-season draft selections, instead saying the club’s football department would assess all available options.

“We’ve just got to make sure we don’t just go and add players for the sake of it. We need to make sure our spots are filled with those who we believe can become AFL players and we can build our team around,” Bell told SEN.

“Once we start to get to 50, 51 players, there’s a lot that needs to be done in terms of giving them the best possible chance to thrive and develop.

“There’s a bit for us to work through and to think about. (I’m) looking forward to hearing what our recruiters and list management leaders have got to say about the prospects that are out there.”

More player availability issues emerged over the last week for the Eagles, with defender Harry Edwards suffering his third concussion of the year after veteran Jamie Cripps (knee) and 2025 second-round draftee Sam Allen (hamstring) went down with serious injuries.

Bell said no decisions had been made over placing any of the trio on the inactive list, which would rule them out for the remainder of the season but open up an additional mid-season draft spot.

Bell also revealed a number of the club’s recruiting staff — including Melbourne-based list manager Matt Clarke — would be at Sullivan Logistics Stadium on Saturday, when the WAFL State side will take on their South Australian counterparts and WA’s under-18 team comes up against a WAFL under-20 outfit.

“No names have actually come up to us in terms of who they’re looking that, but they just want to make sure the due diligence is done on all the available talent and then working out how it fits into our list needs and where it wants to go in the future,” he said.