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Expectations for 2026

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Rowan18 said:
Let's also not underestimate the improvement that comes from coaching. McQualter learnt a lot about the list and how to coach last year.

It's easy to forget that the team hardly had any structure in the first month or so but that signs of gameplan emerged strongly around mid year and was then tinkered with.

I think he has a lot of clarity on how he wants to play and who in the squad can do it (and who can't).
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Yeah, he was quite good at tweaking things, I thought.

Was just run and gun at all costs early, then he introduced more tempo football as the season went on.

One thing I noted is that when he pointed out an issue in a press conference(or had it pointed out to him), it was usually addressed the very next game. Of course, that opened up other issues but I felt they were progressively managed better as the season went on.

Whilst our ruck was still an issue, clearances and contested ball definitely got better as the season went on(until Harley went down, at least), so he clearly sees the game very well and is prepared to do a lot of tinkering until things are in order, as opposed to trying to stubbornly beat other teams by simply 'playing his way'.
 
Slothh said:
These are the ones made me want to throat punch my TV for sure. I feel if we just had a fit Yeo we would have maintained the lead in these games, especially the R13 game where we were missing McGovern and Waterman on top as well.

I think for any young side (especially for interstate teams) the first sign of turning it around is to re-establish a strong home ground advantage. So my hope/expectation is that we start winning our games at home against the other bottom of the ladder sides. 4 wins (3-5 wins give or take a 50/50 game).
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FKASC said:
If we just kicked straight we would have won the North game
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Something else we have to address over the offseason - the team doesnt know how to win when in a winning position. We had every opportunity to snag 2 or 3 more W's this year but completely forgot how to play football when the crunch came. Our head game def needs some work before Round 1.
 
Our defence is stronger, our midfield will at least have some muscle, Waterman and Yeo back.

Expecting a lift from Owies, JWilliams, Kelly, Long, Flynn, Brockman, Dewar.

Continued development from: A.Reid, Shanahan, Hewett, Davis, Johnston, McCarthy, Bo Allan, Newton, Grego, Gross.

+ new additions and MUCH stronger competition for spots. Expecting 6ish wins.
 
For those watching every WCE home games this year must have observed the following: (not easy to see on TV though)
1) The coach has constantly tried different drills and pack/zone structures in different quarters. This has caused instability and unfamilization to the players (This also explains why we won some quarters but failed badly at the end)
2) Also, we did not play a spare man behind the ball in some quarters. When we did, we used people like Dewar whose defensive effort was quite poor. A turnover often caused a goal against. (In short, poor defensive set up)
3) Our tight pack formation required players running fast to break the pack and when opposition defended well on us, the play became very congested and contested. Some players started giving up easily.(Probably, thinking we were playing to train rather than to win).

I am sure we will address these problem in 2026 and will be winning more games than losing. I also expect we will play more "kick/mark" than 2025.
 
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dEagle said:
Our defence is stronger, our midfield will at least have some muscle, Waterman and Yeo back.

Expecting a lift from Owies, JWilliams, Kelly, Long, Flynn, Brockman, Dewar.

Continued development from: A.Reid, Shanahan, Hewett, Davis, Johnston, McCarthy, Bo Allan, Newton, Grego, Gross.

+ new additions and MUCH stronger competition for spots. Expecting 6ish wins.
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I think its quite unlikely that all players you've mentioned will lift, while at the same time not expecting any regression from anyone. There's been very little to suggest that those players you expect to lift will be able to do so, especially the likes of Kelly and Owies.

I agree we'll be a better team next season, mainly due to the bunch of continued development players you mentioned. Some of those will stagnate (like Jack Williams last year), while others might make a significant jump. Its more realistic that we get our (hopeful) improvement from the developing lads, instead of those you expect a lift from.
 
evans1863 said:
I think its quite unlikely that all players you've mentioned will lift, while at the same time not expecting any regression from anyone. There's been very little to suggest that those players you expect to lift will be able to do so, especially the likes of Kelly and Owies.

I agree we'll be a better team next season, mainly due to the bunch of continued development players you mentioned. Some of those will stagnate (like Jack Williams last year), while others might make a significant jump. Its more realistic that we get our (hopeful) improvement from the developing lads, instead of those you expect a lift from.
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For sure. I'll be pleasantly surprised if more than a few get it done. . It's a given that they need to lift if they want to be in the AFL team though, which will be the first time in a long time.
 
The SSP mids we have added aren't world beaters but they might still be able to play important roles. At the very least they fill an age gap in the list and cover some depth that was clearly lacking. My expectations of them are still quite low, but I am hoping one can really take

If we can get improvement out of guys like Hewett, who have the potential to become upper-echelon talent, we could be quite competitive. There were several games where we bottled it late in the game last year that could have easily made it more than a one-win season. If we can somehow manage to shake the losing mentality and close out games, especially at home, I could easily see us winning six or seven games.

The problem for me is still how are we going to kick a winning score? Hopefully Waterman stays fit and we can see more growth from Shanahan, Reid and even Williams but the small forward spot is really up for the taking, especially as Cripps is pretty much finished.
 
Our defence is “world class”.
I was kinda hoping Baker wasn’t playing there but that’s where he’s training so..
Macarthy and Starcevich give us more reliable kicking.
Hough shutdown man.
Ginbey the steel.
HEd the rock.
Cole Duggan Lindsay Young in the mix.
HD and Hewett with Hall(better player in a better team) Gross.
Davis and Dursma wings.
Archer and CDT rucks.
JW looks the fittest I’ve seen him.He is a very smart footballer maybe this is the year he goes next level.
Flynn and BBW are there.
Waterman is a star and Shanahan is going to be even better but a big ask to carry CHF as a 19yr old.
Maric must play midsize forward . Dewar,Hutch ,Long,TK,Williams.
Yo is the X factor but I’m not counting on him.
As often said our biggest problem is learning how to win again.Partly between the ears and partly on Mini as to how he beds down his systems and his choice of players.
Like all great WC teams of past we are assembling the best batch of big men in the comp.
Athletic mobile big men.
I think we will click sometime during the year and ( barring a heavy injury toll ) storm home with 9-10 wins
 
amazingjoshy said:
Dont necessarily disagree with this statement, but feel it was a bit of the mantra under Simmos later years and have heard Simmo and Schofield bust it out over 100 times between them in the media that if ive dont hear it again Ill be happy. Giving off a bit of a "she'll be right" attitude after the clubs just lost by 30 goals doesn't sit well with me tbh

Agree with the rest of the post, the big improvement needs to come from the young guys already on the list (Harley, Hewett, Hough, Ginbey) being able to run out games and bedding down the game plan.

Both the interviews with Jamie Maddocks and Phil Merriman have given me some sort of confidence the clubs on the right track.A lifting of the off field standards that had to happen, and it seems the clubs recognised that in the last year or 2 and put in place the right people to turn that around.

Never expect much from new draftees in terms of influencing more wins (Harley was/is a freak). But the more mature guys around the ball and more games from Waterman and Yeo and like others have said, i doubt we are a 1 win team again.
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Yes, certainly understand the last of the Simmo years. I think back then things were worse than they seemed, whereas now i think its better than it looks. We had a horrible belly in 23/24, that once exposed with injuries to a key group of players, it was horrendous. The few elite players we had peppered over the cracks and hid the dire state of the list / club. For me, this 1 win season was twice as good as last years 5 wins, and i will say 50% more enjoyable.

We are trending in the right direction, building the list, talent, culture. 2023/2024 was probably the worse eagles squad i have ever seen, comparable to the Judge years. At least this year we made strides towards a premiership, no matter how far away it is we got closer not further away. One more good year of drafting in 26, and a few targeted list fixes after that, and we have a premiership team in 2030 and onwards. A bit like Brisbane, you could see them dominating 1-3 years before they made the finals, as they were just building and building. Talent + outcomes compound if you keep doing the right thing. We've made some mistakes in drafting the last 2 years (Banfield + overpaying for Baker + Carlton vs Hawks picks), but overall i would give our list rebuilding an 8/10 so far and it easily could have been a 9 or 9.5. Just need to nail 2026 now.

But back on topic, i think in 2026 we start to see the outcomes of 2 good years of list building / 3 good years of drafting.
 
Spanna_ said:
The SSP mids we have added aren't world beaters but they might still be able to play important roles. At the very least they fill an age gap in the list and cover some depth that was clearly lacking. My expectations of them are still quite low, but I am hoping one can really take

If we can get improvement out of guys like Hewett, who have the potential to become upper-echelon talent, we could be quite competitive. There were several games where we bottled it late in the game last year that could have easily made it more than a one-win season. If we can somehow manage to shake the losing mentality and close out games, especially at home, I could easily see us winning six or seven games.

The problem for me is still how are we going to kick a winning score? Hopefully Waterman stays fit and we can see more growth from Shanahan, Reid and even Williams but the small forward spot is really up for the taking, especially as Cripps is pretty much finished.
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Because they lost a lot last season doesn't mean they have a losing mentality? They didn't have all the necessary requirements to be a winning team, or at least get more wins. But I guarantee you this team wants to win.

On a different topic, not sure how much of CDT or Sam Allen or Tylah Williams we'll see this season. They might spend mucho time in the Wafl. Maybe not see Allen until mid season. Be surprised if CDT is played in AFL straight off.
Bolters might be Lindsay and Fred, even Devo?
 

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Id suggest its a bit too simplistic to just place one expectation. The squad is so fragile to covering injuries for what are injury prone players our form is basically centred around how they go this season

Ill say

With Yeo and Waterman both fit - 8 wins
With 6+ weeks missing from Yeo and Waterman - 4 wins

Yeo is just our most important player by infinite miles....
 
Wouldn't be surprised if we have a bit of a Hawks 2024 year.
Similar situation with new coach and game plan and transitioning player list.
 
GoEaglesGoSGIO said:
Yeo is just our most important player by infinite miles....
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With 18 months out of the game and his age, my expectations on him returning to any past performance levels are slim.

Great if he can, but relying on a 32yo to lead the mid field and be the catalyst for the seasons prospects are less than ideal
 


Expectations for West Coast for 2026 are unsurprisingly low from FoxFooty who set our pass mark at 4 wins

WEST COAST EAGLES

Pass mark: Win four games

There’s no sugar-coating the historically bad season West Coast had this year — registering its first-ever one-win campaign — but there’s reason to expect a winning uptick in 2026. The Eagles’ list department went about adding mature-age names this off-season, headlined by dual premiership Brisbane defender Brandon Starcevich, ex-Tigers key defender Tylar Young and former Lions midfielder Deven Robertson. The club also added top-five draftees Willem Duursma and Cooper Duff-Tytler. And while the Eagles lost Oscar Allen and Liam Ryan, neither offered a tremendous amount to their cause this year. Andrew McQualter now has a season under his belt and will have more confidence in the role, while the club will also expect steps forward from Harley Reid, Reuben Ginbey, Elijah Hewett, Jobe Shanahan, Bo Allan and the like. There’s enough to believe in to expect a few more wins next year, despite entering 2026 as the youngest and least-experienced list in the competition.
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To put that in context they’ve set making the GF as a pass mark for Brisbane, Collingwood and Geelong - which is absurdly high for Collingwood and a guaranteed fail for at least one of those teams.

Five other teams have their pass mark as a prelim, so that would mean a fail for 4 of the 8 sides expected to make a prelim

And another 5 sides, so 13 in total, have had their pass mark set as making finals which includes the wildcard weekend

The sides they aren’t expecting to make finals are
• Essendon and Melbourne - 10 wins is their pass mark
• Richmond - a pass for them is 8 wins
• North had their pass mark set at an ambiguous goal of finishing outside the bottom 4

The expectations to reach a pass are optimistic for most teams, particularly those sides we’d be aiming to go past if we are to avoid another spoon

Four wins for us is a pretty low bar in comparison. Hopefully we can surprise a few
 

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3+ wins

Have one of our draftees at least in the convo for the rising star award late in the season

Ginbey to put himself into the genuinely "elite" categories of defenders in the comp

Beat norf over here, the last two years the two losses to norf here in WA have annoyed me souch because we could and should have won both of them
 
Astro7 said:
Because they lost a lot last season doesn't mean they have a losing mentality? They didn't have all the necessary requirements to be a winning team, or at least get more wins. But I guarantee you this team wants to win.

On a different topic, not sure how much of CDT or Sam Allen or Tylah Williams we'll see this season. They might spend mucho time in the Wafl. Maybe not see Allen until mid season. Be surprised if CDT is played in AFL straight off.
Bolters might be Lindsay and Fred, even Devo?
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Of course they want to win, they are all competitive professional athletes. I'm sure they all hate losing. My point is that they've forgotten how to win. And yes, they evidently don't have the skill yet to be contenders, but there were multiple matches last year that could have been wins rather than close losses with the addition of some calm and experienced heads.

Anyone who has played on an unsuccessful team, at any level, can tell you that it consistently plays on your mind, and we have only won 11 games in the last four seasons- that's about as unsuccessful as you can get. To say that it wouldn't be in the heads of many of the younger players would be naive.

Once the playing group get a bit more experience in how to close out games it will make a big difference. In close games it's often the edge that experience and confidence in a system gives that's the difference, we've all seen it in Eagles teams of the past.

There's a saying that good sides find a way to win (i.e Collingwood 2023 finals, three wins by a combined margin of 12 points), and the opposite is definitely true too.
 
DorothyG said:
With 18 months out of the game and his age, my expectations on him returning to any past performance levels are slim.

Great if he can, but relying on a 32yo to lead the mid field and be the catalyst for the seasons prospects are less than ideal
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Enter Elijah Hewett
 
Was watching a derby game (2007) with Judd, Kerr, Cox, Wirra etc (no Cuzz) and was surprised by the amount of handballing and run on fast transitioning, not all kick and mark. Their play on skills were damn good. It was also a tough hard hitting game, lots of dirty play not allowed now (Carr bros etc).
The game has obviously got even faster now with an emphasis on transitioning pace and taking the game on, but it was by no means slow back then.
 
Spanna_ said:
Of course they want to win, they are all competitive professional athletes. I'm sure they all hate losing. My point is that they've forgotten how to win. And yes, they evidently don't have the skill yet to be contenders, but there were multiple matches last year that could have been wins rather than close losses with the addition of some calm and experienced heads.

Anyone who has played on an unsuccessful team, at any level, can tell you that it consistently plays on your mind, and we have only won 11 games in the last four seasons- that's about as unsuccessful as you can get. To say that it wouldn't be in the heads of many of the younger players would be naive.

Once the playing group get a bit more experience in how to close out games it will make a big difference. In close games it's often the edge that experience and confidence in a system gives that's the difference, we've all seen it in Eagles teams of the past.

There's a saying that good sides find a way to win (i.e Collingwood 2023 finals, three wins by a combined margin of 12 points), and the opposite is definitely true too.
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I understand your explanation, your words, your opinion and it makes good sense.
But I still don't think that equates to a 'losing mentality', all semantics really.
Happy to disagree. Let's hope we bust through the cliches this season.
 
I am really hoping our highest ball winners will start being our mids instead of our backline.

McCarthy, Duursma, Lindsay, running around bringing it forward can only help the side good to hear they're training with mids.

Also hope we can get a few games where guys are consistently seen throughout games with fitness improvements.

We'd get a big qtr from a guy then 3 qtrs of nothing.
 

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