The West Coast Eagles were unable to back up their thrilling week one victory, falling to Essendon by 16 points at Mineral Resources Park on Saturday.

Senior coach Daisy Pearce said despite the result, it was a good reminder of the quality of the competition.

“Really disappointing start to the game, we sort of just missed the jump a bit,” Pearce said.

“We knew we were going to get a really competitive Essendon outfit who are great around stoppages and the contest, and they gave us a bit of a lesson in that first quarter.

“To go minus-20 contested possessions and not get an inside fifty is a tough start, but to our girls’ credit, I thought their ability to fight their way back into the game, and then play out the game right until the very end was pleasing.

“But it’s an early reminder that the competition is really, really tough, and if you’re not ready to go from the very first bounce, good opposition will make you pay, like Essendon did today.”

Emerging young defender Beth Schilling had another impressive outing, finishing with a game-high seven marks, 11 intercept possessions and three tackles.

“Schillo’s one-on-ones today were pretty incredible, and her development has been exciting,” Pearce said.

“Someone as physical and competitive as her, who reads the ball really well in the air, in Soph McDonald’s absence, she’s been able to really play a big role down back.

“She’s worked really hard, and I think just the confidence factor of coaches really backing her in and playing her to her strengths has been important, she’s coming along nicely.”

Exciting youngster Ella Roberts came from the field after a whack to the nose, while Amy Franklin and Belinda Smith both received medical attention, but all three look to have escaped any serious injuries.

“I think she (Roberts) copped two knocks to the nose, but yeah just a blood nose,” Pearce said.

“No concerns with HIA or anything like that, it just took a little bit of time to stop the bleeding, she came off with the blood rule and just took some time to get her back out there, but she’ll be fine.

“The ‘Frankie’ one I’m not aware of, I assume she’s fine as she played out the game, and ‘B’ I think just copped a heavy hit to her shoulder, she came off for some assessment but came back onto the ground as well, so they should both be fine.”

The Eagles will now face a short turnaround and an extended stay in Melbourne, taking on the Bulldogs on Thursday at Mission Whitten Oval, before backing it up against Collinwood the following Tuesday at Ikon Park.

“It’s a good opportunity, we don’t have to wait long to go to work again,” Pearce said.

“We play the ‘Doggies’ on Thursday night and we’ll get one session in before then, and you can already sense in the rooms that they’re excited for another crack at it.

“We’ll spend a week on the road which will be good development and a learning opportunity for us as well.”