Jake Waterman Biography

Jake Waterman earns the round 6 AFL Rising Star nomination after kicking 2 goals from 14 disposals in the Eagles' eight-point win over Fremantle.

Jake Waterman signs a new two-year deal to remain at West Coast until the end of 2020.

The hard-working 191cm forward has booted four goals and averaged nearly 13 disposals, starring with 20 touches and nine marks in round three against Geelong.

"The club has given me a great opportunity to play at the elite level; they drafted me a couple of years ago and from then on I have loved the club since I first stepped in," Waterman said.

Jake Waterman makes his AFL debut for West Coast at Perth Stadium with 8 disposals (4 kicks and 4 handballs), 2 marks, 3 tackles and a goal in a 29-point loss to Sydney.

After a full pre-season, Jake Waterman is eyeing a position in the Eagles' evolving forward line for the round one blockbuster against Sydney.

"That's something I'm aiming to do, if I get my chance in JLT (Community Series), is to play as well as I can and hopefully lock it down for the next game," Waterman said.

"If I get to debut round one or early on in the year I'll be absolutely stoked."

Despite spending most of last year rehabbing his foot, Waterman was close to a call-up for West Coast's farewell to Domain Stadium in round 23.

However, an untimely chest infection meant he barely trained all week and struggled to run laps two days before the game.

"I wasn't in any condition to play if I got my debut. I ended up playing against Subi in the WAFL, but I could barely breathe," he said.

"It was probably the worst time I could've gotten sick really.

"I was pretty unlucky, but I didn't ever think I was going to be that close, so I took a lot of confidence from that."

West Coast select Jake Waterman with pick No.77 in the 2016 National Draft.

The son of club great Chris and younger brother of former squad member Alec said although he was proud to continue the Waterman legacy at the club, he wanted to forge his own identity in the Eagles’ nest.

On carrying the family’s name, he said: “That’s been thrown round a fair bit but I’ve brushed that off as I’ve got older and learned to deal with it. As I was a young kid it sort of plagued me, but now I’m past that and I’m just trying to make a name for myself.”

West Coast nominates Jake Waterman as a father-son selection ahead of next month's NAB AFL Draft.

Waterman, 18, is the son of two-time Eagles premiership player Chris Waterman.

"We've seen Jake for a three-year period since his under-16 carnival with WA and identified him as a 'draftable' player," West Coast's national recruiting manager Rohan O'Brien said.

"We were really pleased to nominate Jake and while both parties understand there are no guarantees on draft night, we're hopeful he ends up at the West Coast Eagles."

Jake Waterman - the son of two-time West Coast premiership player Chris Waterman - is one of 81 players vying for the attention of recruiters at the NAB AFL Draft Combine ahead of next month's draft.

But weighing heavily on the 18-year-old's mind is the wretched fate of older brother Alec, who was delisted by West Coast last month after failing to crack into the senior side.

An inside midfielder who showed plenty of potential, Alec was taken by the Eagles as a father-son pick in 2014 but was struck down with glandular fever the following year and never managed to fully recover.

For Waterman, it was a reminder of the importance of not wasting his opportunity to become an AFL footballer.

"(Alec) has gone through a lot recently and it's been pretty sad and hard for the family to see him go down like that," he said.

"That's what was sort of going through my mind when it was all happening, just to not go through the motions and stuff like that and make sure I get the best out of myself, because it can end as quick as that."