West Coast Eagles AFLW coach Michael Prior was happy with his side’s result in Sunday’s pre-season match against expansion side Hawthorn, however admits there’s plenty of hard work still to be done before the upcoming season kicks off.

The Eagles showed encouraging signs at Mineral Resource Park last Sunday afternoon beating the Victorian side 11.4 (70) to 6.5 (41) in a fast-paced, physical encounter led by key forward Kate Bartlett (three goals).

While a win is extremely positive for the team, Prior was insistent that the side needed to keep their heads on and stay focussed for when they host Port Adelaide during the first round of the competition.

 

“Yesterday’s result has steered us in the right direction however we need to keep the foot on the gas right into round one,” Prior said following the match.

“This is a very different side to what we saw in April, and we’ve been able to amass a huge amount of potential in a new and young side.

“This season is definitely going to be a turning point for us we just need to stay focused on our development and ensure our group continue to work hard.”

While the new Hawthorn showed promise against the Eagles, Prior was under no illusion that this year’s AFLW competition will have a lot more to offer up once the season starts.

“I was extremely impressed with the way they (Hawthorn) played against us and credit to them for the fight they put up,” Prior said.

This is a very different side to what we saw in April, and we’ve been able to amass a huge amount of potential in a new and young side

- Michael Prior

“However we’ve seen the level of competition in AFLW more than double in quality over the last couple of years and we’ve got a really long road ahead of us but we’re excited about the future with our developing squad.”

The West Coast Eagles AFLW side will face Fremantle in their second pre-season clash at Fremantle oval this weekend before starting their first game of AFLW season on Saturday August 27 at Mineral Resource Park with bounce down at 1:10pm AWST.