After a winless 2023 season, the WAFL Eagles tasted victory on the weekend, and despite it being in a pre-season practice match, the joy the players felt when the final siren sounded would have been immense.
The Eagles defeated Perth at Mineral Resources Park on Saturday afternoon by a convincing 47-point margin, with 10 AFL listed players suiting up and impressing in the 15.7 (97) to 7.8 (50) win.
Senior Coach Kyal Horsley gives his take on each AFL listed players’ performance.
Ryan Maric
“He had a good day up forward and kicked two goals, probably could have kicked a few more, he’s got some really dangerous spots and areas that probably got missed, but he worked really hard up and down the ground and it was good to see him play some really good footy.”
Harry Barnett
“Really big game from Harry, he was probably our best for the day. He played with real intent and intensity and competed really hard, took a big step forward and is tracking well.”
Harvey Johnston
“He had a slow start in the game but once he got his teeth into it he showed some real flair and ended up kicking two really nice goals. He played with a lot of spirit and energy and he’s bringing a lot of youth and excitement.”
Zane Trew
“Good return, really classy and clean around the ball. He kicked a nice goal as well, and just had a really good return on managed minutes.”
Clay Hall
“Similar to Trew, he had a good return and he showed his ability to get in and out of the contest and his power running, which he used it really well around the ground.”
Jack Williams
“It was a big day for Jack, he kicked three, but just work rate and his ability to give us an option and a target all day and compete against two defenders and bring the ball to ground, he was really strong, and then obviously to kick three goals and get some reward for it was great.”
Loch Rawlinson
“Loch started like a house on fire, he had his own ball for the first quarter which is impressive in that small forward role, but his work rate was outstanding, he mixed the game up for us and brought some real energy to the group.”
Jordyn Baker
“Really classy game from Bakes at half-back, he’s strung a few together now and he’s in a really good space with his ball use and he’s working really hard on his defensive intent and you can see it paying dividends for him.”
Coen Livingstone
“He put in a power of work, working hard on his craft and spent a bit more time up forward and really gave us a good target and he’s learning the system and competing really hard and kicked a nice goal too, which is good reward for the amount of effort he was putting in.”
Coby Burgiel
“Classy game down back, especially in the second half, he really built into it and some really dynamic ball use and really good decision making with ball in hand, and played our system really well and defended really hard.”
Josh Rotham
“Really strong return from Roth, he led really well, you could hear his voice communicating to his teammates all day, he defended really well and used the ball at a high level.”
Jamaine Jones
“Along with ‘Batman’ (Harry Barnett), he was probably one of our best, he had a lot of drive out of the back line and some of his intent and efforts defensively were really impressive and it was a really strong game from JJ and a big step for him.”
