The West Coast Eagles started their 2025 campaign with an impressive 15-point victory over Gold Coast at Mineral Resources Park on Thursday night.

Senior coach Daisy Pearce praised the team’s performance and how they held their own against the Suns.

“It’s pleasing to start the season off on a positive note,” Pearce said.”

“It’s been a long time since we’ve played for points, and we went 0-5 in our last five games of last season, so I think they just enjoyed getting out there and competing and being able to sing the song.

“We were pleased with the physicality and pressure across four quarters, but there were periods in the game where the Sun’s lifted their intensity and go the game on their terms.

“But we were pleased with how we were able to come back at them, they never looked on the back foot or worried, they were just enthusiastic to go with it, it was a good start.”

Young gun Lucia Painter was one of three new faces to don the blue and gold on Thursday night, alongside fellow draftee 2024 Kayla Dalgleish and former Roo Liz McGrath.

Painter starred in her first game at the elite level, finishing with three goals and pulling down an epic mark in the goal square.

“It was great to see her get reward, Lu is an incredibly hard worker,” Pearce said.

“She’s super driven, got a lot of talent, and when you look back to February to now and the work that she’s put in, it’s just great to see her go out there and get the reward.

“I think she’d be the first to say that a lot of it came off the back of some really hard work and players around her playing their roles, and Lu got to get the benefits of it tonight, which is exciting for a kid on debut. She’s just getting started.”

Reigning club champion Ella Roberts picked up where she left off last season, kicking two goals in the first term to give the Eagles’ a dream start to the game, and finished with a game-high 24 touches.

“It’s a good day as a coach when Ella Roberts starts the game that way,” Pearce said.

“She’s an incredible talent, and I think we saw today that she will be able to sustain that high level for longer periods of now.

“She’s another one who is starting to put the pieces in place around her talent, which is her hard work and diligence off-field, so it was good to see her start the game that way.

“She had a really good third quarter as well, I thought her work rate and intensity around the ball was one of those reasons we were able to get the deep entries to Lu to go to work.

“To have those two now be able to work in tandem mid-forward is going to be a good lever to be able to pull.”

The Eagles will play their next two games on the road, facing Essendon in round two at Windy Hill, and St Kilda in round three at RSEA Park.