West Coast Eagles captain Luke Shuey today fired a shot at critics who say there should be an asterisk next to the club who claims this year’s premiership title.

Speaking to the media via a teleconference conference today, the 2018 Norm Smith medallist said there was everything to play for – and more – in the 2020 flag race in spite of some commentators suggesting winning it all won’t mean as much due to changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I just think you’ll have to look at the impact you’ll have by winning (a premiership this year) with the amount of fans and members who you will make happy after a tough year for them and people at the club (who have had) pay cuts and people who have lost jobs,” Shuey said.  

“In terms of how many people it will touch, it’s arguably bigger.

“I think if you speak to any player or coach across the competition or anyone involved in an AFL club, they will tell you that a premiership this year will mean just as much as any other season.”

With that in mind, the Eagles have been training with purpose as they prepare for their season restart against Gold Coast on June 13.

Wintry conditions delayed the team’s resumption of full contact drills on Monday, but the skies cleared on Tuesday, allowing the Eagles to lay some bumps and tackles for the first time in eight weeks.

Shuey expected Eagles to ramp up the physicality of their training sessions in the next fortnight ahead of the club’s relocation to the Gold Coast.

“We’ve only got a two and a half or three-week period before we play again, so we’ve got to push the line a little bit and get as much (contact work) into us hopefully without losing anyone along the way,” Shuey said.

“It’s a tough caper, but so far so good.

“We got a little bit of match simulation in (on Tuesday), which was good fun

“It was nice to hit bodies again and a few of the boys pulled up a bit sore, nothing too serious. It was the good soreness.”

The father of one, who revealed that his family probably would not travel with him to the Gold Coast, hoped West Coast could return to Perth following the completion of their round five match against reigning premiers Richmond.

However, Shuey said the Eagles accepted they had to go with the flow in what was an extraordinary time for the sport.

“We can’t do much about the hub situation,” he conceded.

“We’re aware that we need to give back to the game here in some regard and that’s going away, but there comes a point where we do worry about the mental health and well-being side of things. Everyone is doing what they can to make sure everyone across the competition is in the best space possible and things are looking pretty bright.

“We are hopeful that the AFL and all parties involved can make sure it is only a four-week hub. At this stage the fixture out is a four-game fixture, so we’ll be working off that. We don’t want to look too far ahead.

“There is so much stuff from our point of view that we need to worry about before we even get up (to the Gold Coast).

“From a playing point of view, we’re not even thinking about what happens at the end of the four weeks.”