The West Coast Eagles have fallen to Brisbane by 45 points at Mineral Resources Park on Sunday, but coach Daisy Pearce said it's an opportunity to learn from the Lion's elite training standards.
After a slow start from the home side, with Brisbane kicking three goals in the opening term, West Coast showed promise in the remaining quarters of the 2.4 (16) to 8.13 (61) defeat.
“I was really proud of how we fought out the game,” Pearce said.
“It was a disappointing first quarter, we knew were playing against a real quality outfit in the Lions and it was going to be a big test.
“We just couldn’t get our hands on the ball or get many tackles, I think we laid seven tackles in the first quarter which is below what we’ve been averaging and what we wanted to get after.
“As good sides do, they were just able to carve through us.
“But after quarter time, I thought our ability to get our hands on the ball more, win that territory battle at times for big chunks of quarters, and maintain that pressure on them was much better.
“I was proud to see our fight, that’s something that we’re learning more and more about our group, their ability to respond and keep turning up and keep wanting to play the next moment, which is something we’ve put a lot of work into, and I think they showed that today.”
After losing their season-opener to the Kangaroos, Brisbane have now gone on to win their next four consecutive games and continue to show why they’re one of the most dominant teams in the league.
“Their work rate is probably their trademark, but then it’s their fundamentals as well,” Pearce said.
“We kept turning the ball over and part of that was because structurally we were giving them a plus-one behind the ball.
“They punished us with that because of their skill level and fundamentals, and despite our pressure, they were still able to execute skills.
“There’s no secret so to speak, their work rate from just years and years of training at an elite level, and then their fundamentals are no doubt the same.
“The standards they must have in terms of how they train that is something that we’re really working towards, and we’ve taken big steps towards, and we will keep going and keep learning.”
Experienced Eagles defender Sophie McDonald returned for her first game of the season on Sunday, missing the previous three games with concussion and a minor wrist injury.
Unfortunately, McDonald suffered another head knock in the first quarter and took no further part in the game after failing a HIA.
“Soph is ok, but she’s entered concussion protocols which is a shame,” Pearce said.
“It’s a shame when anyone gets concussion but given that she’s missed a bit of the season so far with the same concern, we’re hopeful she will be ok.
“The good thing is that she’s walking around and doing ok now, but we will get more information on it during the week.”
After a recent increase of injury concerns for the Eagles, including Jess Hosking (quad), Jaide Britton (concussion) and Amy Franklin (finger), Pearce is hopeful a number of players will be cleared to return to face GWS on Sunday.
“We’ve got a few, all different varieties of injuries,” Pearce said.
“It’s part of footy, but the condensed fixture maybe just doesn’t give the time to get numbers back, but in good news, we’ll get a couple back this week I expect.
“Abbygail Bushby should be available, Sasha Goranova will go close, Roxy Roux will be available with her hand if all goes well this week, so it will be good to get some troops back.”
