The challenges don’t get any easier for West Coast with reigning premier Melbourne coming to town but defender Liam Duggan believes the Eagles are making promising inroads after a fighting effort against Brisbane.
A severely undermanned line-up kept in touch with the Lions before being put away late last Saturday night at the Gabba, and took some positives from strong contested and clearance work.
However, facing the unbeaten Demons at Optus Stadium – where they broke a 57-year premiership drought last September – will be a massive task.
“It’s another big challenge. They don’t get any easier with the Dees coming over,” Duggan said.
“We still go into every game with the mindset we can win, that we can challenge. I think we made some good inroads against Brisbane, albeit it was for two-and-a-half quarters and faded away.
“Certainly some positives out of the weekend we’ll use to continue to grow. We’ll need another big effort.”
Duggan conceded the Eagles were getting a “lack of reward” for effort but spirit remained strong within the group.
“In our games now we’ve got to look for those little wins and I think on the weekend, clearance, contest and our pressure was a win for us, so we can build around that,” Duggan said.
“There is a lack of reward at the moment, but the boys have been really positive the whole way through and I think that’s a credit to our coaching staff, our players and the club as a whole.
“It’s been a pretty dire month for us in terms of losses, but the positivity and the mindset that we’ve got going into games is I think speaking volumes of how we’re actually travelling inside (the club).”
One of the highlights of the Brisbane game was the debut of South Fremantle gun Jake Florenca, who picked up 19 disposals after coming in as a Covid Contingency List back-up.
“He was just up for the contest. He was ready to get his hands dirty,” Duggan said.
“With Jake we met him the day that we flew out, so it’s still bizarre circumstances that we’re meeting some of these boys but I think I’ve been really impressed with all the boys that have even travelled but haven’t played.
“The willingness to buy-in to what we are doing is pretty impressive. He was good to have around and I thought he had a pretty good game.”
Duggan, part of the leadership group, said the club had dealt with the seven players handed fines for attending a Leederville nightclub and had put the matter behind them.
“It is disappointing, obviously. A pretty big error in the judgement, but I think we’ve dealt with it as a club,” he said.
“Those boys will cop their punishments but we’ve got to move on now.
“We continue to grow. Those boys will learn from it and they won’t be making those mistakes again.”
After missing the trip to Brisbane, senior coach Adam Simpson is set to exit the AFL Health and Safety Protocols on Thursday and be back at the helm after midfield assistant Matthew Knights stood in for him in round eight.
