It’s the closest West Coast has come to any team this season, but it still wasn’t enough for the Eagles to claim a first win for coach Andrew McQualter in 2025.
Players were given a standing ovation by the 46,000-strong Optus Stadium crowd after the two-point loss to Essendon on Good Friday, given the marked improvement from their Gather Round smashing at the hands of Carlton just a week prior.
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But young gun Jack Williams, who himself has been part of just seven wins in 33 AFL games, said there was still disappointment that the club couldn’t break their winless start to the season.
“There’s a lot of good things you can say about today but at the end of the day we’re still trying to get our first win,” he told foxfooty.com.au.
“We’re not all the way there yet – we’re probably not even close yet.
“Disappointed not to close out the game and get the result, but it’s a big step in the right direction.”
The Eagles were smashed in the contest battle, as Essendon finished +15 in clearances by full time. But West Coast finally showed the fight critics and footy fans alike have been pleading for.
“You can lose and actually take a lot of steps forward in this game,” Fox Footy’s Matthew Pavlich said.
“They just haven’t been competitive across the first few weeks – tonight they were impressive, their effort was fantastic.
“They are ranked 18 for pressure across the first four or five rounds for the year. All (the crowd) wanted was effort and pressure, and they got it in spades from West Coast.
“They were brave West Coast – they were everything they haven’t been for the first five weeks of the season.”
Williams, one of the stars in attack for the Eagles with three goals, said players “regrouped” after their away trip that saw them suffer heavy losses to GWS (81 points) and the Blues (71 points) in back-to-back games.
“It’s all in your face everywhere you go,” he said of the scrutiny the club was put under after those losses.
“You try and block it out.
“We just focus on getting back together with the full playing group and working with the coaches, and really try and hash out the simple things that we can control on-field. That’s what we go after.”
Williams said McQualter was pleased with the fight shown by players after jumping out to an early lead and then holding on in a tense second quarter battle.
McQualter backs players despite H2 fade | 08:57
“We were probably under siege a bit in the second quarter,” he said.
“(McQualter) spoke about how previous weeks we probably would have just rolled over and that would have been that. Our ability to stick tough and probably go in with momentum at half time, it’s something new for us this year.
“That’s what’s we want to look to do … the ability to keep fighting.”
Remarkably West Coast’s first term was just their second winning quarter for the season in a clear sign at how dismal their start to 2025 has been.
They now travel to Marvel Stadium to take on Hawthorn in Round 7 at a venue where they’ve managed just two wins in their past 12 matches dating back to 2019.
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