WA’s clouded draft crop could have a silver lining with Sydney Stack set to receive a lifeline from Richmond.

Stack was one of the most high-profile names overlooked in the national and rookie drafts yesterday, as the State recorded its lowest haul since 2002.

But The Weekend West understands Richmond is poised to invite the Perth midfielder to train at the club in the coming weeks. It is believed Stack — an All-Australian in the national carnival from just three games — would live with Tigers coach Damien Hardwick while he is in Melbourne and could be listed by March 15 under new rules if he impresses.

WA had just one player taken in the first round of the national draft, Jordan Clark (Geelong), on Thursday night, with highly-rated forward Ian Hill slipping to Greater Western Sydney at selection 24 yesterday.

Twelve players found their way onto lists during the two-day event — seven in the national draft and five as rookies.

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The colts system has been overhauled since the Boston review, with more power put in the hands of the WAFC over WAFL clubs.

Talent manager Adam Jones conceded they had failed to produce the talent at the top end of the draft of previous years, while there was also a drop-off in mature-aged talent taken.

Twenty WA players were drafted last year and 16 the year before, but Jones said there was no need for panic.

“Definitely the system is working. The talent is going to be cyclical,” Jones said.

“But it’s our job to make sure that when you do have a trough, it’s a one-year occurrence and the troughs aren’t as deep as what they may be previously.

“Next year we hope we can sort of bounce back up to the numbers that we’ve seen the last couple of years.

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“It’s by no means any panic stations and it wasn’t the worst result we’ve seen.

“It’s good to get 12 boys onto a list and I think there will be a few more, if they improve in a few areas, who will certainly put their hand up in the near future.”

Jones said making sure the players performed in their draft year would be a focus for the next crop after Hill’s slide.

“We’ll certainly look at it and review how we can get better,” Jones said.

“Whether the pressure can get to some boys and what we can do to help mitigate that a little bit.”

Tyron Smallwood and Dillon O’Reilly were among the other teenagers who missed out on their AFL dreams yesterday.