Andrew McQualter says a recent meeting between West Coast’s Football Department leaders and senior players was ‘super productive’ and ‘with the sole purpose of getting better’.
The meeting, where players were invited to share their thoughts and to improve communication, was held before the Eagles’ clash against Essendon on Good Friday – the team’s best performance for the season.
McQualter, who spoke about the meeting during and after the Bombers clash, said the discussions would continue as the club strives for ongoing improvement.
“I probably want to speak to our members on this topic because it’s been blown up the last couple of days, and ... I mentioned it two or three weeks ago, so we haven’t kept this as a secret,” McQualter said.
“I think any organisation that’s underperforming that doesn’t get its most influential people in the room to try and figure it out is being negligent. That’s all we did.
“We had a real purpose to get our most senior players and senior figures of our football department together to find a solution of the way out of where we’re at.
“We’re not happy with where we are. It was a super productive meeting, everything was on the table and there has been some growth in us, our game, our environment and we’re going to continue to do it.
“We’ll have meetings like that again with the sole purpose of getting better. We’re aligned with our senior players, that’s what came out of the meeting.”
McQualter also touched on Oscar Allen’s situation on Thursday, after the co-captain revealed the mental toll he has been dealing with which contributed to him missing the Essendon match, along with the physical workload to start the season.
“Really what we’ve done the last couple of weeks is try and support Oscar as much as we can,” McQualter said.
“When he missed a game of football he wanted us to not speak about it and we granted his wishes, because that’s his mental health that we were talking about.
“He had a small break away, which is what he needed. I think we forget these people are human.
“We choose to live our lives publicly, because that is the nature of our business, but we all have emotions, we’re human.
“He’s in great spirits at the moment and we’ll continue to support him.”
Allen will play his 100th match in blue and gold on Saturday night against Melbourne at Optus Stadium, while Tim Kelly will return from a toe issue for his 150th AFL game.
“We’ll get Tim back into our side. We think he’s incredibly valuable to our team,” McQualter said.
“He went away to the WAFL a couple of weeks ago and worked on what he needed to and we think he helps us a lot.”
McQualter confirmed injured midfielder Elliot Yeo saw a surgeon on Thursday morning, but was not certain of the outcome yet.
“Reasonably competitive guy, Elliot, which I’ve come to learn this year. He’s frustrated that he can’t help and he just wants to help our team,” he said.
“That’s the way he’s wired. He’ll get himself back as soon as he can.”
West Coast upset Melbourne in the corresponding fixture last season, when McQualter was an assistant at the Demons.
He vividly recalled the Optus Stadium crowd spurring the Eagles on, with Harley Reid setting the match alight and kicking the Goal of the Year in just his ninth AFL match.
“The members of our footy club are turning up, which is quite amazing considering what we’ve been through the last couple of years,” McQualter said.
“If we can make the place as loud as it was last year it gives our players a significant boost and I know as opposition it’s really hard when the crowd is up and going.
“It will be great to get as many there as we can.”
