NOW that the dust has settled on trade week, West Coast must address their No. 1 problem area.

The Eagles desperately need to build ruck depth and the starting point is next month’s national draft – and it could come in the form of a 203cm former Fremantle player.

West Coast have Tom Hickey, Nathan Vardy and Nic Naitanui, who is out until at least the middle of next season with a second ACL injury, on their list. If injury strikes again they will be in trouble.

Fraser McInnes is their next tallest player at 198cm. He was pick 28 in the 2011 national draft and has been used primarily as a forward. The fact he has managed 14 games for seven goals would raise questions as to whether the Eagles will keep him for an eighth season.

A mature back-up player, like former North Melbourne great Drew Petrie who filled the void in 2017, should be in their planning.

West Coast stunned the football world when they selected the-then 34-year-old who had been axed by the Roos. He played 16 games the next season including both of West Coast’s finals.

Subiaco premiership ruckman Zac Clarke should be in their thinking.

The 28-year-old seems to have recovered from injuries that plagued his last two seasons at Fremantle, where he played 101 games in nine seasons.

The problem with drafting ruckmen is takes years for the fruit to grow, so pinching one from another club is the best scenario.

Nathan Vardy (Geelong to West Coast this season), Toby Nankervis (Sydney to Richmond last year), Tom Boyd (Greater Western Sydney to Bulldogs in 2016), Ben McEvoy (StKilda to Hawthorn in 2015) and David Hale (North Melbourne to Hawthorn in 2015) all tasted premiership success.

With the retirements of Mark LeCras and Eric Mackenzie a nippy forward and key defender should also be on the radar as well as more midfield depth after the failure to trade Tim Kelly.

Fremantle addressed a lack of depth in attack during the trade period and now must firmly focus on the middle of the ground. Losing Lachie Neale, their best player, is a huge headache.

Danyle Pearce has retired, Harley Bennell provides no guarantees and many players are still works in progress including the talented Andrew Brayshaw and Adam Cerra.

Skipper Nathan Fyfe and Connor Blakely, who missed large parts of last season, will be added into the mix which includes the emerging Ed Langdon and veteran David Mundy.

But the jury is out on Darcy Tucker, Sam Switkowski, Stefan Giro, Mitch Crowden, Brandon Matera and Tom North.

Travis Colyer, who the Dockers traded in from Essendon during the trade period will help, but they need some more depth from the talented crop of youngsters in the national draft with picks 14 and 31.