West Coast swooped on highly-touted key forward Jobe Shanahan after he was a shock draft slider - and then quickly moved to bolster their hand by trading for an extra pick and bring in five new faces.

As they maximised their draft haul to lean into the club’s rebuild, the Eagles traded out a future third-round pick to North Melbourne in exchange for pick 48, which they used to pick up midfielder-defender Lucca Grego.

It came amid a late swoop on another big slider in Claremont midfielder Hamish Davis, with the midfielder staying in the west having slipped to Pick 65 despite being touted as a second-rounder.

Rated as a potential top-10 selection, Shanahan defied predictions to remain on the table going into Thursday night but was quickly snapped up by the Eagles with pick 30.

The third selection of the second round, Bendigo Pioneers product Shanahan – likened to Nick Riewoldt as a pack-crashing tall – managed to slip past Richmond at pick 28 and Western Bulldogs at pick 29.

“I was pretty nervous all night and didn’t know how it was going to go. I had inklings of where I would go but obviously it didn’t happen,” Shanahan told The West Australian.

“I was heartbroken at the time but as the day’s gone I’ve built up this moment and now, it’s happened I don’t even care anymore. I am just happy to be part of the Eagles.

The 18-year-old joins top WA talent Bo Allan at West Coast after the Peel Thunder product was taken with pick 16 on night one.

The Eagles used pick 46 to grab Tom Gross, a midfielder-forward who showed toughness and leadership at Victorian club Oakleigh Chargers.

An under-18 All-Australian, Gross averaged 20 touches, 3.5 tackes and three clearances for Vic Metro in the under-18 championships, while he showed he can play against the bigger bodies with 21 touches against Coburg while playing for the Australian under-18 team.

Gross’ selection sparked one of the draft’s most memorable celebrations, with the 18-year-old buried under an ecstatic bunch of friends and family.

“My Mum’s from WA so I’ve got half my family there. They’re rapt so I can’t wait to get over there,” Gross said.

“Growing up I was a Dockers supporter, so it’s a bit weird being an Eagle now. I’ve loved Fyfe and what he’s done is remarkable.

“Mum being from WA, all my cousins went for WA ... it went from there but it was mostly Fyfe because I loved him growing up.”

Gross is now looking forward to working alongside the likes of premiership star Elliot Yeo at the Eagles.

“He’s a good fell and a good player. And all the boys down at the Eagles as well, I can’t wait to meet them all,” he said.

“I had no idea (that the Eagles were going to draft me). I was hoping for Port (Adelaide) but that went through.

“I didn’t even talk to the Eagles at the combine so I wasn’t expecting anything and when they called out my name it was such a relief.”

Grego, the Western Jets’ captain this year, is a 184cm utility who averaged 23 touches including 8.5 contested and kicked seven goals.

Grego had a blistering state draft combine appearance with a 3.01 second 20m sprint and a 6min 32sec 2km time trial.

After multiple rounds and numerous teams had passed on Davis, West Coast offered the western suburbs product the chance to make his dream come true.

“It was almost torture in a way. Probably the most stressed I’ve ever been,” Davis told Fox Footy.

“I don’t really care now, I’m just so glad I finally got drafted and to be on an AFL list is a dream come true.”

The Tiger-turned-Eagle was surrounded by family and friends when his name was finally called, and he was glad to be able to remain in his hometown.

“I’ve got such a supportive, group of mates and family behind me that I love very much. So to have their support in my own state, I’ll definitely benefit from that and lean on them.”

The Claremont product also paid tribute to his three Tigers coaches who had helped him rise up the ranks this season.

“I’ve been very fortunate to have three great coaches this year: Ricky Smith, Webby (Marc Webb) and Ash Prescott, they’ve all been so good for me and the teams I’ve been playing in, so it’s hard to pick one out of those three, but those three have been massive influences to me and I’m very grateful for what they’ve done.”

More to come