AFL
3 weeks ago
Draft watch: Eagles eyeing Cats premiership midfielder for Kelly reunion
By Andrew Slevison
Geelong premiership midfielder Brandan Parfitt is being linked with a possible mid-season draft move to West Coast.
That is according to Hamish Brayshaw who says the Eagles could look to offer the 26-year-old Perth Demons midfielder an AFL lifeline in late May.
Brayshaw believes Parfitt’s potential move to West Coast would help struggling midfielder Tim Kelly who has been dropped for this weekend’s clash with Carlton in Adelaide.
Kelly won the John Worsfold Medal in 2023, but finished 10th last year and so far in 2025 is averaging less than 19 disposals per game which has prompted Andrew McQualter to swing the axe.
But Brayshaw believes he might be sparked by the possible arrival of his former Cats teammate Parfitt who starred with 29 disposals in Perth’s Round 1 WAFL loss to South Fremantle last Saturday.
“Tim Kelly has obviously been dropped, fallen out of love with the game,” Brayshaw said on 6PR.
“A big reason for that is that Jack Darling and Jamaine Jones were his two best friends at the football club. One has moved, one has been delisted.
“So his best mates at the footy club have left. Your mates have left, you’re losing games, you obviously fall out of love.
“He has had one of his very good friends from Geelong move to Western Australia to play WAFL football who is a 100-game and premiership player. He has come out fit as a fiddle and he’s in as good a nick as you’ll ever see.
“My good oil is that Brandan Parfitt, the West Coast Eagles will be eyeing him off for the mid-season draft. It will be heartbreak for all Perth fans.
“You heard it here first, watch that space, because ‘TK’ is a good player. He’s 25 games removed from winning a John Worsfold Medal and he had 30 disposals against Brisbane three weeks ago.
“He hasn’t just forgotten how to play football. The love for the game is big and if its not there its not there. A good way to get it back is to take on one of his very good mates - who not only is a friend of Tim Kelly’s and will get the best out of him, he is a gun in his own right.
“100 games, premiership payer, her’s only 27 and by the looks of the weekend’s game for Perth, has got spring in his step, bounce and a sheer drive and determination to make it back in the AFL.”
Kelly will play for West Coast in the WAFL against Subiaco on Friday night while Parfitt will suit up for the Demons against West Perth on Saturday night.
Eagles coach McQualter has since commented on Kelly's omission, saying the 30-year-old has handled the decision well.
"Tim was really understanding, and disappointed as you would expect, but we're really supportive of Tim that he's going to get back to his best footy," he told reporters.
"He's going to go and play in the WAFL this week and really work on the things that we spoke to him about.
"It's about rewarding the right behaviours every week and picking a team that can win a game of footy.
"It's my job, and it's our job as a match committee to do it, and the expectation is that the players have an understanding that we're picking the best team to win every week, and we're rewarding the right behaviours.
"We're trying to pick a team that really can complement each other. Clearly, we're going to be a bit younger in that space. That's obvious, but that's also exciting as well."
