The West Coast Eagles are celebrating their first road win of the season after defeating Essendon by four points at Windy Hill on Sunday.
The 17th placed Eagles caused a huge upset over the fifth placed Bombers, holding on late for a 3.5 (23) to 2.7 (19) victory with an incredible display in what was tough east coast weather conditions.
Coming off 70-point loss to Melbourne last round, West Coast coach Michael Prior said the team knuckled down at training this week and the effort paid off on the field.
“Great win, how am I feeling? Pretty happy,” Prior said.
“We set out to deliver on a few things today, we trained during the week and we thought we could make a difference with our game within a week, and that’s exactly what happened for us.
“Credit to the group, they took it on board and delivered for us around the contest today, I thought they were really good.”
Prior praised the playing group and the intensity and fight they showed throughout the game, especially in a tense final term.
“Everything starts with how you go around the contest, and whether you’re winning clearance, and we’re down the bottom end for clearance,” Prior said.
“So, to come out on top today in that aspect, and the way the girls fought to lock that ball in, especially in the last quarter when the game was on the line, I thought in and around the footy, we went to a new level today which was really pleasing.”
The Eagles have been focused on implementing a full, four-quarter effort this season, and Prior said that was the key to the team’s success today.
“It’s great, four quarters of footy is what every team is striving for,” Prior said.
“I reckon that’s the second time we’ve done it for the year, and funnily enough we’ve won those games.
“If we can deliver on that in the next couple of weeks, hopefully there’s another in or two up our sleeve.”
Captain Emma Swanson finished with a career-high 12 tackles for the game, and Prior said the leadership group stepped up and set the tone for their teammates.
“We had a big focus on our tackling,” Prior said.
“I just highlighted our leadership group after the game and how they went about it and how they really set the tone for us.
“And the other member of our leadership group who wasn’t out there for most of the game, Jess Sedunary, she got injured going back with the flight of the ball and that just said a lot to our group about being up for the fight today and I thought our leaders really lead from the front.”
Securing just their second win of 2023, Prior said he encouraged the team to enjoy the celebrations, before they shift their focus to the Western Bulldogs next weekend.
“I think it’s really important for our group to celebrate when we do win, I think they will still be celebrating right now, and that’s great,” Prior said.
“That’s what we want to do, you want to win games of footy and you want to enjoy the good times because there’s a lot of down times in footy.”
The Bulldogs will be hungry for their first win of the year when they travel to Mineral Resources Park to take on the Eagles next Saturday, and Prior said the team will aim to replicate their performance and hopefully secure back-to-back victories.
“For us it’s about how we go about the week,” Prior said.
“How we review the game, how we train and give the players a couple of really simple focuses that they can go out and deliver against the Bulldogs.
“That’s what we did this week and they were able to do that so, clear their minds a bit, let them go and play and set them up for another win.”
