Hi everyone,
We are excited to announce that for the fifth successive year we have surpassed the extraordinary mark of 100,000 members. We are fortunate to have such loyal and passionate fans and members and are grateful for all your support. We have spoken about bringing you all along for the journey and providing deeper connection to the players and club and I hope you all feel like you belong to the West Coast Eagles and equally they belong to you. Thank you and we are excited about the next chapter in the club’s history.
It was wonderful to provide Adam Simpson a dignified and respectful farewell against Brisbane last week. His impact over his 11-year tenure was significant and it was wonderful to have this acknowledged in front of our members at Optus Stadium. We thank Adam for his passion, energy, and commitment over 242 games and wish him, Nicky, Milla, Allie, Owen and Elsa all the very best for the future.
As we say goodbye to Adam it opens the opportunity for Jarrad Schofield to step in and lead the team for the remainder of the 2024 season. I know that Jarrad and his assistants will drive the team forward in search of progress. There is still much to play for and for gains to be made within our football program and the ongoing development of our players and team(s). Our focus remains on being highly competitive across all matches, playing a style of football that is capable of winning, and showing continual improvement. We look forward to attacking the rest of the 2024 season.
Our football focus now turns to securing a new Senior Coach and we immediately begin the search process. We will start to engage with interested coaches around the opportunity to bring in the best person to lead the team.
The AFLW season preparation is in full swing as the women build into the upcoming pre-season matches ahead of our season opener at Mineral Resources Park vs Richmond on Friday night, August 30. There is a real excitement around the AFLW side and Daisy Pearce and her team have done a great job in bringing the group together. There have been significant improvements across the squad and the team is training with great purpose and energy.
In other news, I attended the AFL CEO’s conference here in Perth earlier this week and we had some positive and collaborative discussions around competitive balance issues, future fixturing and the strategic direction of the game. Please be assured we continue to push to ensure that some of the inequities that exist in the current national competition are being acknowledged, considered, and addressed at AFL level.
Once again thank you for your amazing support and we look forward to seeing you at the footy for our remaining two home games against Gold Coast (Friday night, August 2) and Carlton (Sunday, August 18).
Fly Higher
Don Pyke
CEO
