Spearhead Josh Kennedy believes the bye round is the perfect opportunity for West Coast to regroup and refresh after a disappointing run of losses.
Using the break to reflect before attacking the second half of the season, Kennedy said the week couldn’t have come at a more welcome time.
“It’s a good week to regroup,” Kennedy told 6PR.
“It will be a lot of reflection, a lot of review over the initial part of this year.
“Obviously disappointed on the weekend, with another loss, but a bit more training to get done towards the back end of this week.
“The boys will have a few days off, we’ll still have training programs where they’ll work on whatever we need to work on.
“Whether that’s some fitness, whether that’s some extra running, whether that’s just actually resting.
“Then we’ll get back into training on Thursday.
“So, it’s a good week to – obviously review and reflect and then rest – then there’s still some time to get some work in as well.”
Despite a lack of reward for effort, the seasoned veteran assured fans Adam Simpson’s men are putting in a “mountain of work” behind-the-scenes.
“Internally, us as a group, the coaching staff, everyone’s clearly on the same page,” Kennedy said.
“The boys are doing a mountain of work, honestly every day putting in what they need to do.
“It’s obviously not clicking on game day, and there hasn’t been much reward for a lot of the effort the boys are putting in.
“It’s at these times you need to be doing these hard yards, doing that work and sometimes it does feel like there’s no reward but it does pay dividends down the track.
“The boys are putting in a massive amount of effort every week trying to get better and trying to improve themselves.
“That’s all we can ask for.”
Speaking to 96FM, midfield bull Elliot Yeo said West Coast must “tighten up” their first quarters and use the bye round to reignite a spark ahead of a round 13 clash with Geelong.
After succumbing to their eighth consecutive loss against Adelaide on Saturday afternoon, Yeo said the five-to-nil start proved costly as the Eagles attempt to rectify their pressure in the first term.
West Coast’s final losing margin – 31 points – a telling statistic, with the side trailing by the same number at quarter time.
“Our first quarters are really costing us at the moment,” Yeo said.
“It’s one of those things that we really need to tighten up and tighten up pretty quick.
“We start to look at that then we probably keep ourselves in games, then we might start to look quite competitive.
“The GWS game, they slammed three or four goals quite quick on us, we clawed it back, but unfortunately it’s pretty hard when you keep trying to claw back wins.
“If we hadn’t have given up three or four goals pretty quickly in the first quarter, we’d be in front.
“All of a sudden that changes your mindset, scoreboard pressure can be a real big thing as well.”
