West Coast Eagles superstar Josh Kennedy knows all about playing in big games.

Over the course of his illustrious career, the two-time Coleman medallist has played in 14 finals, including two grand finals, and was a huge factor in the Eagles’ premiership triumph in 2018.

Aside from his on-field presence, his leadership has been critical in recent years as the Eagles’ forward line has very quickly become the club’s youngest line.

Entering his fifth-straight finals series as an Eagle, the 32-year-old has turned his focus to nurturing the club’s next generation of forwards during the business-end of the season.

Kennedy said he tried to keep things simple for his young charges leading into the finals.

“The biggest thing we talk about to younger guys is making sure they’re clear on their role,” Kennedy said.

“If they’re clear on their role, who they’re playing against, what the opposition want to do and what they need to do to execute it makes things much simpler.

“The outside noise of expectations and so forth, if you can ignore that and focus on your role and know it’s just 120 minutes of footy, it gives you the best chance of going okay.

“Obviously there’s a lot at stake and things can heat up a bit, but if everyone’s clear on their role and playing the way they have all year, it’ll give us collectively the best chance to perform.”

West Coast’s forward line has been far more dynamic than years gone by over the past two seasons, with the reliance on Kennedy to boot bags of goals week-in, week-out no longer required.

“It’s great to see the young ones coming through and taking the next step in their career, whether that’s debuting or making their mark at senior level,” Kennedy said.

“It’s pretty exciting; we’re not just one avenue to goal, we have multiple avenues now.

“We get a little less predictable for the opposition that way because we can go to a number of guys to kick our goals.

“Every player we’ve got is unique. We’ve got guys who are more lead-mark, guys who’ve got big tanks who run guys off their feet and then speedy crumbers as well. I think that helps us adapt to different types of games and kick a score more often than not.

Despite falling to fifth after two losses to end the season, Kennedy insists the Eagles’ best football is good enough to win against anyone.

“The year, on the whole, has been a search for consistency,” Kennedy said.

“We’ve been really good at times and had patches where we haven’t been as good, but the good thing is when we’ve needed to we’ve found a way.

“When we play good, team football, we’re capable of beating anyone anywhere, but we have to bring that collective effort to get that done.

“The cards have fallen where they have and we’re ready for the challenge of September.”

While, of course, they believe they can go all the way, Kennedy said the team’s focus would not drift further than Thursday’s night’s clash with Essendon.

“The Bombers are going to be tough. They know how to win in Perth and they’ve been playing some great footy,” Kennedy said.

“Defensively they’ve been super all year, and they’ve got that pace off half back as well.

“Woosh has them playing some good footy, so it’ll be tough for sure, but we’re up for the fight.”

Kennedy said West Coast was looking forward to running out on Thursday night in front of 60,000 screaming Eagles fans.

“It’s always great to get a home final and play in front of our fans,” Kennedy said.

“We get a big lift out of our fans at home. They’re the best in the comp, so to run out on Thursday with them cheering for us is massive.

“It’s great for football in WA. You know it’s going to sell out and it’ll be a hostile environment for the Bombers. That’s great for us.”