Former Eagle Brad Sheppard has backed Jackson Nelson to continue his AFL career elsewhere after West Coast didn’t offer the 26-year-old a new contract following the 2022 season.
Nelson was taken with pick 51 in the 2014 National Draft and made 102 appearances for the Eagles across seven seasons in the west, sitting perennially on the fringes of selection.
Known as a defensive jack of all trades, Nelson has played both tall and small roles and was also a proficient rebounder over his time at the Eagles, with 19 games in 2021 his career high.
Despite his long service, Nelson wasn’t selected for the Eagles Grand Final teams in 2015 and 2018, although did appear in the 2019 and 2020 finals series.
Speaking on SEN WA's The Run Home, Sheppard - who retired from the Eagles in late 2020 - backed Nelson to begin afresh at a new club.
“I think he needs a breath of fresh air, a different environment,” he said.
“A player that has played 100 games now of football, he understands the system. Obviously he wasn’t playing in his preferred position, I think he’s a very good small lockdown defender and he’s got enormous aerobic capacity.”
But Sheppard - who was forced to cut his career short due to concussion concerns - acknowledged that after eight years of fighting for selection, his former teammate may not wish to continue his AFL career.
“If there’s (an) opportunity out there he can have real value as a player, it’s up to Jackson if he wants to continue his AFL career. The pressure of being an AFL player when you’re in and out of the side, it affects you mentally, it’s a grind,” he said.
“If he does get picked up again I think he’s got some real value so I’m hoping he can get a second chance, it’ll be interesting to see what happens in the next couple of weeks.”
West Coast also delisted Hugh Dixon and Tom Joyce along with Nelson in the club's first batch of list changes ahead of 2023.