It’s been a warm welcome for the Eagles’ first ever midseason recruits, with Connor West and Will Collins slotting in seamlessly at Mineral Resources Park.
The first step in initiation? The welcome kick.
Both boys spinning and snapping goals in front of the full Eagles group.
“Being out with the guys, it’s unreal. You go from just training with the Falcons, and now you’re training with the likes of Nic Naitanui, Luke Shuey, big change up, but super grateful for it, and looking forward to many more,” West said.
West and Collins both receiving the call-up after watching the midseason draft live on television Wednesday evening.
Versatile defender Will Collins was snagged at pick 11, while ball magnet Connor West was taken at pick 23.
“My name got read out, the whole room went off, everyone went crazy. This massive flood of emotion and then the phones started buzzing and here we are, and if you asked me to recap the last couple of days, I couldn’t, it’s been crazy,” Collins said.
West had a similar experience after meeting with West Coast recruiting staff on the Monday prior to the draft, as well as completing a full medical.
“Wednesday midday came in, had another little chat. Didn’t really get a lot, but they just said if the opportunity came then they’d potentially look at me,” West said.
“Obviously it went my way, and after that, it’s just been a crazy little 24 hours, or last two days. I wasn’t expecting it at all, it was a bit of a surprise.”
Although it was West’s first time inside the Lathlain grounds, the scenery was far more familiar for Collins, who trained with the group throughout the summer.
“That was a really, really good experience being here in the summer. I really learnt a lot about my football, got to meet some of the boys early which was a great experience,” Collins said.
“I’m still grappling with the fact that I’m here and I’m here to stay, so training yesterday was great, really happy to be here. I feel like now I’m part of the team I’m able to really foster good relationships with people and really grow with the team.”
The speedy defender even earning himself a nickname in the summer sessions, ‘Phil Collins’, after the singer.
“On my first day here in February I came and I was asked if I had a nickname, at that point I said ‘no’ and I knew that might’ve been a dangerous move, so I got assigned ‘Phil’ really quickly, it’s kind of stuck, so it’s not a bad one.”
While West is also planning on stamping some individuality into the playing pack, with his flowing mullet.
“The mullets not too bad, still got a bit of work to do, hopefully I can earn a little bit of respect from the other boys who have had them.”
As well as this, the key cog in West Perth’s engine room brings a skilful tackling ability, after laying 45 across seven games this WAFL season.
The gun midfielder also has also racked up 30 marks, and an average of 26.9 disposals.
“Putting in all that work over the last few years, and to finally get rewarded is quite nice,” West said.
“My parents were over the moon, super happy for me. It’s been a crazy few days, but just super grateful and excited to be here.”
