Following West Coast’s first win of the season on Friday night, a six-point victory over Port Adelaide at Mineral Resources Park, Eagles coach Michael Prior said it was important for the team to celebrate the success.
The nail-biting victory was West Coast’s first since round four last season and was reward for effort for the young Eagles after encouraging signs of improvement recently.
“It was a good win, a lot of things we spoke about the week before we were able to implement in the game which was really pleasing,” Prior said.
“I think it’s important to celebrate when you win, so we let them go for a bit after the game, and hopefully they enjoyed the weekend.
“We don’t want it to be a one-off, we want them to get used to that feeling, and this week has been a really positive week for us on the track so hopefully they bottle that up and want to go again.”
Playing in front of their family, friends and home fans on Friday night, Prior expressed how valuable it is to have the players’ loved ones along for the ride.
“I think it’s something our club does really well, invite the families into the shed after the game,” Prior said.
“Win, lose or draw they’re always there, so the numbers will continue to show up.
“It’s an important time for our players to spend with their families, take in the win, enjoy that scenario and hopefully it happens again.”
Exciting young forward-ruck, and round five Rising Star nominee Lauren Wakfer said the team were thrilled to get the win for captain Emma Swanson in her milestone game.
“We had a lot of fun, it’s been really positive at the club recently,” Wakfer said.
“We were just glad we could get over the line on the weekend for our skip’s 50th especially, we were all really hungry for that so it’s super awesome.”
Wakfer said the Eagles have their eyes set on a road win against the Giants.
“We just want to keep our momentum going,” Wakfer said.
“Super positive still, we just want to knuckle down at training and we know what we’ve got to do now to take it to the Giants.
“We just want to travel over there and get the win on the road.”
Prior praised Wakfer’s contribution to the win on Friday night and said he’s pleased with her development so far this season.
“We thought we had a really even performance from everyone on Friday night,” Prior said.
“Led by Lauren, our Rising Star winner of the week, it’s been really pleasing to see Lauren grow as a player.
“Her ruck work, buying into her craft, marking the ball around the ground, following up at ground level, a well-deserved nomination, so well done ‘Wak’.”
Following Friday night’s win, Prior emphasised the importance of the team taking off-field learnings and delivering them during a game.
“I think it’s important, and that was sort of my message after the game to the girls on Friday,” Prior said.
“I want them to understand why we won the game and what we were working on during the week and what we focused on in our review.
“To be able to go out and deliver that, that’s why we got the win.
“That correlation piece between taking it from the class to the grass is really important for us and it just shows that with a young group, we’re learning, and we’re willing to learn and dig in and do the hard yards and things will start to turn for us.”
