West Coast recruit Alex Witherden says he is soaking up as much as he can from All Australian duo Brad Sheppard and Shannon Hurn this pre-season.

Since switching from Brisbane after last season, the Victorian product has settled in quickly to the Perth lifestyle and is getting up to speed with the Eagles’ brand of football.

With competition for spots likely to be intense in West Coast’s backline, Witherden wants to become as versatile as possible in a bid to become a regular in coach Adam Simpson’s team.  

“At this stage I’m just focusing on each session and trying to improve each session and trying to earn the respect of my teammates and the coaching staff,” Witherden said on Friday.

“It’s easy at this stage of the year to get carried away and think too far ahead towards round one, but we’ve got a really good bunch of defenders down there and there’s probably eight, nine, maybe 10 blokes competing for the final six or seven spots.

“It’s just about putting your best foot forward on the track and the rest will take care of itself.

“I’ve been doing a little bit of defensive work with Brad Sheppard, he’s been helping me with that craft.

“A little bit of work with some of the taller defenders, well, Shannon Hurn’s not tall but he can play taller at times, so the more strings you can add to your bow and the more versatility you can play within that back six you give yourself a better opportunity of playing week-in, week-out.

“(Backline coach) Jaymie Graham has been really good in trying to instill confidence in me again and get me up and going and playing to my potential.

“I’ve felt so far what I’ve been able to deliver has been getting me back to the player I want to be.

“Simmo has been really good as well. He was one of the ones who was really keen to get me across and he’s really made that transition quite smooth.”

Witherden made his name as an elite-kicking defender in 59 appearances at the Lions and was twice named in the AFL Players Association’s ’22 under 22’ side.

Aged 22, he adds to the emerging crop of Eagles set to drive the side forward in coming seasons.

“I didn’t realise how good the young crop coming through here was. I’ve been really impressed by those guys from 21 to 24, 25,” Witherden said.

“There’s been a lot of talk this might be our last chance or whatever, but from I’ve seen so far this is a really good group going forward.

“You’ve got guys like Oscar Allen, Liam Duggan, Tom Cole, Jake Waterman, who probably haven’t got to play prominent roles within the team because there’s been such good players playing their role in the past.

“But I think they’re really going to flourish over the next 12 to 24 months given more opportunity."