Starting ruck Sarah Lakay is prioritising the growth and improvement of West Coast’s squad over individual accolades following her nomination for the NAB AFLW Rising Star Award.

The 19-year-old had a career-best performance at Optus Stadium, winning 42 hit outs - the second-most recorded in a game– laying five tackles and taking three contested marks.

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Lakay wins Rising Star nomination

Sarah Lakay receives the NAB Rising Star nomination for her Round 5 performance against the Dockers at Optus Stadium

However, it was the learnings and positives that the Eagles took away from the Fremantle clash that Lakay wants to emphasise moving forward.

“My focus has been to work together as a team to improve. We’ve got a young side so it’s just been about building in that regard,” Lakay told westcoasteagles.com.au.

“It’s been a nice transition coming into the main ruck position this year, I’ve really enjoyed stepping up to that role.

“We’ve had big emphasis on professionalism as a group and I think that everyone has bought into that and taken it on board.”

Lakay credited the diligence from the squad’s newcomers who have pushed the team for playing spots resulting in six AFLW debuts so far.

With such a large list turnover the Eagles have highlighted team chemistry as a key area of focus and are pleased with their progress just over the halfway point in the season.

“The team is gelling very nicely and we are growing and learning, so it’s been nice to see that come together so quickly,” Lakay said.

“There are a lot of new players and we are always improving, we’ve had a lot of debutants that have been contributing well, so we are definitely on the right track.”

PERTH, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 23: Mim Strom of the Dockers contests a ruck with Sarah Lakay of the Eagles during the 2022 S7 AFLW Round 05 match between the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers at Optus Stadium on September 23, 2022 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Will Russell/AFL Photos.

As West Coast embarks on a trip to Victoria to play Hawthorn this Friday, Lakay is looking to replicate her game against the Dockers however her goal is to come back to Perth with another win under her team’s belt.

“It’s great to win the Rising Star Award for the week but at the same time we are out there to win,” she said.

“It was great to play at Optus Stadium against Fremantle, they are a good side and it was in front of a big crowd so it was a really good experience and we learnt a lot from it.

“I’m really excited to play the Hawks. They will be a really good test to see how far we’ve come this year and to see what we’ve got to work on ahead for the last few rounds of the season.”