Daisy Pearce learned a lot in her first season as a senior coach.

A constant high achiever, Pearce played her footy at Darebin and Melbourne, two powerhouse football programs, and she excelled on the biggest stage.

That's not to diminish the years of incredibly hard work that went into her football career, but upon taking the senior coaching role at West Coast, she had to acknowledge the challenge that lay before her, and open up her own mindset.

Pearce had never coached a team outright for an entire season before taking on the Eagles last year, jumping in the deep end with a side who had won just eight games from its first five seasons in the AFLW. 

"It was a whirlwind. Because I'm passionate and care a lot about people, I wanted to be good straight away. It was a massive learning curve, but it was super rewarding," Pearce told AFL.com.au.

"I'd been lucky enough to turn up (as a player at Melbourne) every pre-season, every week, every day, thinking we're going to win this thing. You didn't have to convince me. It wasn't because it was guaranteed, or because I wasn't humble enough to know that it might not happen, but it's just the way my psyche was.

"I brought that here, and it was a kind of disconnect at first, because their history has been different. It's not wrong, it's just been different that they hadn't won more than two games in a season. 

"Regardless of results and outcomes and history, I still believed, otherwise I wouldn't have come here. Belief isn't blind confidence or guarantees, but it's belief that if you put your energy into what's important, if you've got buy-in, weight in numbers, you can improve. And if you keep repeating that, reflecting and trying to get better, you'll get there or thereabouts. Even if you don't, it'll be bloody rewarding. 

"So that was a big part of last year, trying to show I believed in them, and I genuinely thought if we kept repeating the process, we'll get there."

The Eagles won four matches last year, comfortably their best ever result.

"I've never worked harder. But you dust yourself off and get ready to go again and look forward to this year. Having the foundations of relationships and the trust starting to build among players and staff, it enables you to come in and get to work and be your authentic self a bit more," she said.

"I have such an acute sense of the privilege it is to be in the passenger seat for these players. They come in, and this is their dream. I remember what it was like to have a dream and big ambitions, and there's so much you can control as an athlete, but there's plenty you can't and nothing's guaranteed. Even the best careers don't last forever, so I just get this sense of great privilege and responsibility that I want to do them justice."

West Coast's biggest acquisition between AFLW seasons may have been an off-field addition.

Pearce bolstered her side's support team by bringing in Melbourne's former AFLW high performance manager Sam Batterton to the equivalent role at the Eagles.

Strength, conditioning and injury prevention has long been a significant advantage to the top sides, and a number of teams have been investing in the area this pre-season. 

While Greater Western Sydney appointed its first full-time AFLW high performance manager this year, the Eagles have doubled down, and the PB numbers are off the charts.

"The addition of Sam Batterson as our high performance manager – in conjunction with Wes (Salisbury, head of strength and conditioning) – has been good to have two full-time resources in that space, and we've been able to really individualise their programs," Pearce said.

"It's paid off. We've had big improvements in our strength, in running and just how robust they are now, and able to back up and do the work. There's no kind of silver bullet to improving and to developing, it's just turning up session after session and banking minutes and getting the reps in. 

"I think that's the big jump that we've been able to make this year, is that we've got more players able to do more work instantly. 

"We learned a bit from the year before, in the very long AFLW off-season. We trained and wanted to improve, but we trained for a long time, whereas this time around we broke it up into smaller chunks with clear objectives. So I think we've struck a bit of balance of being able to get to work and try and close this gap. 

"Sam has allowed Wes to really work to his strengths. He was spread a bit too thin, managing the whole high performance and medical departments, and trying to run programs for 30 athletes. So Wes can now focus more on the strength side of things, which is a real priority for us.

"Having had a really close working relationship with Sam at Melbourne when I was a player, it enables us to cut to the chase a bit. He reminds me of stuff I can do better, and I remind him of things without having to tread on eggshells."

In terms of the on-field product, Pearce said team defence had been a key focus over pre-season, while second-year utility Jess Rentsch was set to be released from defence, given the return of Annabel Johnson (ACL).

Rentsch was outstanding as an inside midfielder in the practice match draw against the Western Bulldogs, showing poise beyond her years.

"Last year, defence was more around effort and individual performance, and trying not to get beaten in your position, stripped back to the basics," Pearce said.

"Whereas this year, we put a lot more time and work into our system and how we can defend as a unit. If we can defend more efficiently, it allows us to turn the ball over in better areas and move it a bit better. We've got some speed in the front half, and if we keep improving how we defend and where we win the ball back, we'll be able to utilise it more. 

"We've also gone after our fundamentals under pressure. When you watch the best teams, they're not playing a more sophisticated style that no one knows about, they're just doing it better because their skills stand up under pressure and are more consistent."