Elite sport is always about results. Well, almost always.

Sometimes the focus falls elsewhere. Last Sunday was one such rare occasion when the West Coast Eagles played St Kilda at Optus Stadium.

Last week it was about a response. After Sydney demolished the Eagles by a record margin at the SCG, the focus was on how the Eagles would bounce.

They began with an intent that was personified by captain Luke Shuey. They kicked out to a five-goal advantage in the second term before the Saints reeled them in and won by eight points.

It was a match where almost 36,000 Eagles fans attended to support a club and team under siege. They gave them wonderful ovations at each break. It was uplifting. Emotional.

They had seen first-hand what Adam Simpson and others had been pedalling for much of the season. That players drafted in the last couple of years are exciting. That the future is bright.

They saw the power and speed of Elijah Hewett – and the unbridled enthusiasm that came with two goals, the second of them from stoppage was spectacular. They saw the reaction evoked by a miraculous snap from small forward Noah Long. They saw the upside in developing tall forward Jack Williams, who also kicked his first goal in senior football.

They also saw 19-year-old ruckman Harry Barnett for the first time, albeit fleetingly as he was injected into the game in the middle of the last quarter having started as the tactical sub.

They also saw the continued impact of Reuben Ginbey. Remarkably, he has not been mentioned as a bonafide contender for the Rising Star Award. His debut season has been highly meritorious and arguably tougher than some of his contemporaries given the season the Eagles have so far endured.

The also saw second-year players Rhett Bazzo and Brady Hough continue to grow along with Campbell Chesser who is starting to emerge after the toughest of starts to his AFL career.

Chesser was coming from a little way back after playing just five games in his final two years of underage football and then missed all of last season with an ankle injury. He then missed six weeks after a knee injury in the round three derby.

This game is unforgiving. Tough at the best of times for young players trying to make their way. Hurdles confronted by Chesser make it infinitely more challenging.

The ninth player in that group of first and second year players was Ryan Maric, the club’s selection in the mid-season draft. In kicking two goals he further franked his credentials as a player with a future.

He had played against Adelaide and Sydney and had shown signs and he took another step forward with two goals against St Kilda. He has poise, football smarts and neat skills. The three-game sample is relatively small but there is much to like.

The youngsters are a shard of light piercing the thunderous skies of 2023. That is why Eagles fans were buoyed by the performance. Rarely has a fan base so accustomed to a high benchmark been satisfied by an ‘honourable’ loss if, in fact, such a thing exists.

The excitement of what they saw in the kids has also heightened because they understood the depth of talent that was not available. This line-up of players who could not play last Sunday through injury or illness is full of highly-credentialed players.

The challenge now is to replicate that effort on arguably the AFL’s toughest road trip.

The Perth-Brisbane assignment is gruelling, another chapter in the continued education of this young group.