West Coast coach Andrew McQualter has promised an extensive review into every aspect of the Eagles' football program, declaring the club needs to nail the next six months to move forward after its worst season on record.
The Eagles suffered a "flattening" end to 2025 on Saturday night, conceding 13 goals to one in the second half against Sydney to lose by 67 points and become just the fifth team in 50 years to finish a season with only one win.
McQualter said he was certain the Eagles had improved this year, and their best football had been able to match quality opposition, but the group needed to learn to compete for longer and win during a critical offseason.
"We're going to have to deep dive review everything we do, every part of our program … to try and learn what worked this year, what didn't, and how we're going to improve it," McQualter said on Saturday night.
"We have a long period now until we play against another team, and we need to really get this next period right. We need to nail every part of it, from our training, from our education, from our preparation, and we'll make sure we do.
"We will deep dive into everything and figure out ways to get this club moving forward."
West Coast produced one of its best opening quarters this season on Saturday night and led by seven points at half-time before a dire second half that saw the skilful Swans pull the Eagles apart on transition.
After 11 wins across the past four seasons for the club, McQualter said instilling competitiveness and a will to win would form the bedrock of the upcoming preseason.
"We need to build into our whole program ways to compete and win, and learn how to win," the coach said.
"It might be table tennis, it might be handball games at training, but we've got to learn to win. It's real within our football club, so we'll build it in.
"Everything we put through our pre-season is going to be about competing, and we'll find out the players that really want to win."
In a season marred by injuries to key players, defender Reuben Ginbey finished the year on the sidelines after a bad knock to his right knee that the club hoped was nothing serious.
Jobe Shanahan was a shining light with three goals, while McQualter liked what he saw from first-year defender Lucca Grego in his first game.
"He's a really good competitor, Lucca, and he's got some real calmness with the ball. He didn't look out of place at all tonight and he had some really nice moments," McQualter said.
"We wanted to make sure that when we picked players in the AFL team, they were ready. And Lucca may have been ready earlier, but he got his chance tonight and he showed that he's capable of being a really good AFL footballer."
