The senior coach hopes the tough times across the past two seasons will make the Eagles stronger in 2024
The challenges we faced throughout the year were not planned, but as we work towards emerging out the other side the experiences of the last two years can hold us in good stead.
Obviously you would prefer to avoid this trough, but you can draw a degree of resolve from it.
We expected much more going into the season and while obviously disappointed with the on-field results, with just three wins I was also quite proud of the way we stuck together and did not fracture despite the pressure.
In many respects it was a season of growth. That might sound contradictory given a three-win season but I am confident the experiences can galvanise us as we progress and set about the task of climbing up the ladder.
This climb will take time, but the foundations of our rebuild are in place and we’re as united as ever in tackling the challenges head on.
There has been a noticeable transition on our senior list with almost 30 players departing the club for one reason or another over the last three years and we have brought in an exciting group of young players who will be the key to navigating our club forward.
Within the group of 30-odd departures were also some of the club’s great players, including three outstanding individuals who retired at the back end of this year.
They don’t come more highly credentialed than premiership captain Shannon Hurn, Norm Smith medallist Luke Shuey and generational ruckman Nic Naitanui. Obviously they will be deeply missed but that is an unfortunate yet unavoidable part of the elite football cycle.
We look forward to being able to call on their knowledge and experience as we move forward. Luke will continue to have an official involvement as stoppage coach and our young group are fortunate to be able to continue to lean on him.
On several occasions during the year, I said we would get really young really quickly and we have lost three of our elder statesmen – Bunga as our games record holder (333), Boots (248) who fell just short of the 250-game mark and Nic who finished on 213 games.
For the third year in succession we have gone to the draft while also bringing in some players from other clubs who we believe can assist our resurgence.
It will be exciting to see those young players evolve. We’re embracing the journey we’re on and we look forward to our members and supporters joining us. The unequivocal support from our loyal Eagles fans helped to energise us through a difficult year.
With more than 100,000 members and attendances averaging around 40,000 at our Optus Stadium matches we were grateful to know they had our backs and definitely felt stronger with so many people behind us as together we embark on the next phase.
Their resolve in adversity was motivating as we got down to work each week.
No one wants to succeed more than the players. They understand the privilege they have in representing our club each week and the shared responsibility they have to carry us forward to the next era of success.
Similarly, our staff are as focused as ever on helping the players to be the best versions of themselves. I know they are determined and committed to doing all they can to play their role and bring their strengths and are excited by what’s possible.
While the resilience was evident in the back end of our season, with two of our wins (against North Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs) coming in the last five rounds, it prevailed right through the program.
There could be no better example than our WAFL Eagles. The knock-on effects of low availability for our AFL team was that the WAFL side was decimated and they kept fronting up in the most difficult circumstances.
They could easily have won a couple of games in the run home but were forced to settle for a draw against Perth and a last-kick defeat to Swan Districts. We all took great pride in the way they stuck at it, the bulk of the team being country or amateur players who just knuckled down and dug deep each week.
It was a great credit to coach Rob Wiley, captain Jackson Nelson and development manager Steve Trewhella that they remained focused and steadfast on achieving the best outcomes for our young players in difficult circumstances.
Rob has decided that he will not continue in the role and I would like to thank him for his support and commitment over the last couple of years. Congratulations, too, to Jacko Nelson on winning both the WAFL fairest and best and trademark awards.
In addition to Rob, some other dedicated individuals within the football program have moved on post season. Warren Kofoed was initially Head of Strength and Conditioning and later Head of High Performance in his 15 years at the club and did an outstanding job in preparing our players as we made two grand finals in his time and won the 2018 premiership.
My good mate Daniel Pratt, who has coached in a variety of roles in the last decade, will move onto the next chapter after arriving with me in 2013. He was an integral part of everything we achieved over that time and we can forever share some amazing memories.
Dr Alex Strahan has also departed the club after more than 12 years and I would like to acknowledge him for his dedicated service and valuable counsel.
An unfortunate aspect of this industry, as mentioned earlier, is that there is player attrition at the end of every season and I would like to thank all of the players who contributed to our club but will not be part of the next chapter.
Xavier O’Neill, Luke Foley, Connor West, Greg Clark, Samo Petrevski-Seton and Isiah Winder all leave as people who made solid contributions and will always be a part of the West Coast Eagles family.
While the wins did not come as regularly as we had hoped, there were some great individual efforts throughout the year – none better than the level of consistency achieved by Tim Kelly who joined the ranks of club elite by winning the John Worsfold Medal.
Oscar Allen was also outstanding in a tough year up forward with limited supply to finish runner-up and Liam Duggan, who won the player trademark award, rounded out the podium.
It was great to see the impact of Reuben Ginbey who won the Emerging Player Award and he is a key part of the journey going forward. We were thrilled with the impact he was able to have in his first year, along with Elijah Hewett, Noah Long, Campbell Chesser and Ryan Maric.
We now set our sights on the future, moving forward together as we strive to meet our collective objectives.
I would like to thank Gavin Bell for his outstanding efforts in his first year as General Manager – Football. It was a tough initiation, but he helped us navigate our way through and is working hard to get the pieces to the puzzle in place to ensure we bounce back as quickly as possible.
I would particularly like to acknowledge the support of Chief Executive Officer Trevor Nisbett whose wisdom and experience was priceless as we dealt with a season that was extraordinarily tough. We have always been able to count on his support and that was again the case, along with the club executive.
To Paul Fitzpatrick and the Board, thank you for all that you do. We look forward to blue skies ahead.
Finally, to Nicky and the kids thank you so much for everything – especially the things that make such a difference but happen naturally. I couldn’t do this job without your support.
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