VERY FEW coaches get asked about 17-year-old prospects that are still almost two years away from playing in the AFL in their introductory press conferences, but very few coaches are in the position of Ken Hinkley.

When the vastly experienced Hinkley was announced as Tasmania's coach on Monday morning, one of the first players he was asked about trying to attract wasn't Nick Daicos, or Tom Green, or Logan Morris. It was Axel Walsh.

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Walsh, for those not yet aware, would in any other year be the early frontrunner to be next season's No.1 draft pick. The athletic and versatile 202cm forward-ruck from Western Australia is enjoying a terrific bottom-age season, playing all four games in the most recent under-18s carnival.

He averaged 12.8 disposals, 10.3 hitouts and kicked three goals in four matches, displaying the type of exciting traits that would make him a much-hyped prospect in 2027.

Only he might already be a Devils player by then. Walsh is eligible to join the AFL's newest expansion side and is one of the six youngsters in the mix to sign up before this season is out as part of Tasmania's list concessions.

And, speaking to AFL.com.au's trade and draft show Gettable earlier this week, Walsh's manager Tom Seccull from Corporate Sports Australia said the youngster is open to such an idea and excited about the opportunity it would present.

"He's open to it, absolutely," Seccull told Gettable.

"He's the type of kid where any opportunity that he gets, it's a dream of his to play at the next level. He's seen his brother be able to reach that. From that point of view, any opportunity he gets, he understands how big that is.

"He'll be able to weigh that up. I think he's definitely open to the idea. Naturally, it's a long way away. But there's definitely the desire to look at everything."

Walsh also has links to Tasmania already. His older brother, Xavier, has spent the last three years on Port Adelaide's rookie list where he was coached by Hinkley. He subsequently spent his fair share of time at Alberton as his sibling settled in South Australia and has become well acquainted with his potential first AFL coach.

"I met Axel at Port Adelaide, so I know his talent," Hinkley said on Monday.

"I know what he's about and I know how good he can be. We would love to think and hope he will be a part of the Tasmania Football Club in the future. But there are a lot of things to cross before that happens.

"You'd be surprised, I've been watching the 17-year-olds a little bit."

Walsh was one of the 22 bottom-age prospects contacted by Tasmania in February through a 'player of interest' letter and has now met with Devils recruiters to chat about how the next 18 months could look if he signs up.

However, Walsh – along with his manager Seccull – are still working through the situation and allowing the youngster to concentrate on school, representative footy with Western Australia at the recent under-18s carnival and WAFL games at Colts level where he represents East Perth.

"Nothing's been offered to him so far," Seccull said.

"It's a credit to Axel and Tasmania. He is obviously still in school and, as a younger guy, I've never met someone who is more grounded. I remember chatting to [recruiting manager] Derek Hine after one of their interviews and he was just so complementary of the way he answered some questions.

"One of the questions was … he was talking about the pressure and Axel's name has been everywhere from such a young age at 15s and 16s. One of the things Axel answered on how he deals with it all was that pressure is a privilege. That's a great saying. In terms of that, I think it comes from mum and dad and having Xavier work really hard to get into the AFL as well.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. For us, in the background, we're doing a lot of the due diligence on what it could look like for him so when the time comes we can go, 'OK this is what it's going to look like'.

"We've been working closely with Tasmania and, to their credit, they want to give every one of their first bunch as much opportunity to be able to show what they can do and have equal opportunity of trying to push their case to do it.

"From their point of view, they haven't gone to us really early and said, 'We want to lock him in' or anything like that. They want to give everyone fair process, which I think is great. [List manager] Todd Patterson and the team there are doing a fantastic job."

Tasmania has been hoping to finalise the signings of its six potential 17-year-old recruits around Grand Final week, though Seccull said a timeline on Walsh's decision still remained up in the air.

"I've got a rough idea. But that's a moving piece for them. Similar to what's going to happen in terms of coaching appointments and other things like that, they're moving pieces," Seccull said.

"There are a few things an AFL point of view that need to be locked in to place to be able to then push on to do that, so I think it's a moving piece. We don't have an exact timeline on it, but we've got a little bit of an idea on it."