Improving around the contest and lifting workrate will be key focuses for West Coast heading into the toughest test in football away to reigning premier Brisbane, coach Andrew McQualter says.
The Eagles were thrashed around the ball, losing contested possessions by 43, in a rough first up loss to Gold Coast at home and are narrowing their focus for Sunday’s Gabba clash.
“We had a great team review the other day. There’s some things in that game that we got wrong – the scoreboard told us that,” McQualter said.
“We’re confident we’ll put some things in our game, particularly around the contest, they were the biggest themes that came out of the game … and then our workrate wasn’t at the level we needed it to be.
“The things I’ve just spoken about, the things we’ve reviewed, we’re confident we can fix straight away.
“Whether that means we win the game or win the contest, it doesn’t, but it gives us much more of a chance which is what we’re going for.”
Lions champion Lachie Neale poses a major threat to the Eagles leading a powerful engine room featuring the likes of Hugh McCluggage, Will Ashcroft and Jarrod Berry.
Brisbane overcame Sydney by four points in the Grand Final rematch in round one, despite Neale being held to just 10 disposals in a rare quiet performance.
“I’ve been coaching against Lachie Neale for almost 10 years and I’ve been involved in the teams that have tried to tag him seven or eight times and it’s the first time it’s really been successful on the weekend by James Jordon, he did a terrific job,” McQualter said.
“We’re aware how good Lachie Neale is. We’ll have plans in place for sure for him, but there’s also some other pretty good midfielders in that team.
“If you go and tag one, often someone else gets away from you.”
The Eagles will be forced into two changes for the road trip, with spearhead Jake Waterman (back/calf) and Jack Hutchinson (hamstring) unavailable.
Star forward Liam Ryan could return after just falling short of facing the Suns due to hamstring awareness.
Young gun Bo Allan is also in the mix for a debut after getting through three quarters for the WAFL Eagles following illness.
West Coast’s squad will be revealed at 3.20pm AWST on Thursday before the team is finalised at 2pm on Friday.
