West Coast defender Tom Cole has highlighted the promising performances of the club's emerging talents, underscoring the team's potential for growth following a fighting loss to Geelong.

Cole emphasised the Eagles' ability to match it with one of the competition's form sides for three quarters, pointing to the development of young players like Tyrell Dewar, Reuben Ginbey, Sandy Brock, and Harley Reid as key positives from the match.

While the Eagles ultimately went down by 43 points after the Cats’ late blitz , Cole remained upbeat about the team’s progress.

“There were some good positives, being able to just stay in the game was important,” Cole said.

”Previously we’ve struggled to deal with momentum. They got the jump on us early and we were able to stick with them for the majority of the game.”

The Eagles improved their ball movement, particularly from defence into attack, which caught the Cats off guard at times and gave fans a glimpse of the style of footy West Coast is aiming for.

“The way we moved the ball was positive. The way we were able to move it from our back half into our forward half was a lot quicker,” Cole said.

“Throughout the second and third quarter we caught Geelong on the jump, even around the simple footy things it’s starting to look better.”

Cole was particularly keen to highlight the development of some of the team’s emerging talent, especially among the young defenders.

“Tyrell Dewar provides a spark in the backline, really positive,” he said.

Reuben Ginbey’s effort on Geelong weapon Jeremy Cameron also didn’t go unnoticed.

“’Reubs’ did a great job for the majority of that game, so that was positive,” Cole said

Another youngster who has been impressive is Sandy Brock, a recent addition to the Eagles after spending some time on the Gold Coast list.

“Sandy played really well. I think he’s one of the quickest on our team and is really fast once he gets up and going.” Cole said.

“Harry Edwards is also starting to build into the season. There’s a lot of growth with some of our younger defenders and it’s really positive.”

Cole also praised the form of Harley Reid, who continues to excite with his explosive style.

“He sparked us a fair bit in that second and third quarter, and we got on a bit of a run,” Cole said.

“He’s a really important player to us and we’re just happy he’s playing well.

“We’re starting to build and see a good brand of footy of what we want to play, and we have over the last four to six weeks.It hasn’t been surprising, we’ve been putting in a lot of hard work, now we just need to get some wins.”

Looking ahead, the Eagles are set to face North Melbourne this Sunday at Hands Oval in Bunbury.

Cole was excited for the regional fixture and playing in front of 14,000 passionate fans.

“It's great to head down there and stay in WA for another week we're really looking forward to the game,” he said.

The match in Bunbury will also see Cole face off against former premiership teammate Jack Darling, hinting there could be some friendly banter exchanged on-field.

“There might be a bit of lip service once we’re out on the ground, should be a bit of fun,” Cole said.

”He’s been a great teammate of mine and it will be good to come up against him.”